


give me everything tonight (cause we might not get tomorrow)

by orphan_account



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Happy New Year!, Las Vegas, New Year's Eve, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:02:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22074457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “Are we not gonna talk about what you two did last night..?” Archie goes first, and Cheryl knits her brows together, glancing over at Toni in uncertainty.“What are you talking about?” she asks, chuckling nervously.“We didn’t.. we didn’t do anything last night.”A beat passes.“Cher,” Betty begins, a bit more soft, “we weren’t gonna miss our friends wedding.”Now that catches both of their attention. Cheryl gasps, a smile lighting up both of their faces. “Really?” Toni exclaims. “Who got married?”Archie furrows his brows together in confusion. “Um.. you two did..?”Or, Veronica drags everyone to Las Vegas for New Year’s Eve, and Cheryl and Toni accidentally get married, go on a road trip, and maybe even find love along the way.(OR: a slight FRIENDS au)
Relationships: Cheryl Blossom/Toni Topaz
Comments: 56
Kudos: 209





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i. title is from the song give me everything by pitbull
> 
> ii. this is an alternate universe, so while some things happened from the canon universe, most things probably didn’t and will be explained
> 
> iii. i have a bit of knowledge of where i want to take this, so hopefully it won’t take too long for each chapter to come out, so pls bear with me
> 
> iv. please let me know what you guys think in the comments! criticism is always welcomed!

Cheryl, being a party girl, has had plenty of hangovers in her life, but she can tell this one is going to be a record for the books.

When she wakes up, the first thing she notices is how much her head _hurts_. Like damn, has her hair always been this heavy?

Her eyes blearily blink open, only to quickly shut once again with a groan of pain when the sun shines almost directly into her eyes, worsening the pounding coming directly from her skull. A dry cotton taste lingers in her mouth, and she fights the urge to gag.

“Jesus,” Cheryl breathes, moving to shelter her eyes from the tremendous amount of sunlight pouring in from the window — however, her hand knocks over a couple of empty tin cans off the nightstand and onto the floor, and she immediately flinches at the noise breaking the silence of the room. 

Her eyes squint in confusion, before she slowly glances around at the extremely dirty hotel bedroom, her eyes widening at the sight of how many bottles of what is no doubt some form of alcohol are just _sitting_ in the room, completely empty. There’s definitely far too many too count.

_What the hell.._

Rubbing her eyes, Cheryl turns to look over at the mirror attached to the wall that offers a reflection of her face. She looks about as horrible as she feels, with dark circles underneath her eyes and her red hair completely tousled and messy. 

It’s then that Cheryl notices she doesn’t have a shirt on — the sheet slides down a bit as she’s looking in the mirror and reveals a bit of her chest, and she slowly sits up in even more confusion, tightening the sheet around herself, shifting her legs upon realizing she isn’t even wearing pants or underwear _._

_What—_

Suddenly, the blankets shifts beside her, and Cheryl jolts around with wide eyes and she _screams_ because what the fucking fuck—

The lump underneath the blanket immediately begins to flail, and Cheryl’s screaming, still trying to move away while holding the blanket to her body as another _feminine_ scream sounds throughout the room as well, before a head of pink hair suddenly pops out from underneath the blanket and Cheryl is suddenly staring at _Toni Topaz_ with wide eyes. 

“What the fuck?” Cheryl screams, only slightly thankful a complete stranger didn’t appear from underneath the blanket. She’s still squirming away from the other girl, keeping herself covered as Toni sits up on her elbows, squeezing her eyes shut and using her right hand to rub her forehead. 

“God, you scared the shit out of me,” Toni groans, blinking. Cheryl continues to stare at her in shock, watching as Toni turns to meet her gaze, before squinting her eyes and glancing around the room, realization slowly beginning to dawn on her. 

“Why.. why are we in bed together?” she asks, voice slow and thick with the signs of having just woken up. Cheryl rolls her eyes — if it wasn’t for the throbbing coming directly from the center of her skull, she would’ve been out of here a full minute ago. 

“You tell me,” the redhead says, sighing. It’s then that her eyes fall down to Toni’s chest, and the way the swell of her breasts is clear, the sheet resting just barely below her collarbone. Toni seems to notice where she’s looking, and the brunette furrows her brows together, before her eyes flash back to Cheryl and how the redhead is sitting up with the blankets wrapped around her.

“Do you.. have any clothes on?” Toni hesitantly asks, slightly more awake now as she sits up herself, using the rest of the blanket to cover her body. 

“What does it look like?” Cheryl snaps. Toni holds a hand up in surrender — it’s not like she can hold up both of them without exposing herself — Cheryl thinks, pinching her nose. With a sigh, the redheaded girl uses a hand to rub her eyes. 

“God, I don’t remember much about anything last night.” Toni admits.

“Neither do I,” the redhead murmurs, and for a moment they continue to sit there in silence, both suffering from _killer_ headaches and still taking everything in.

“We didn’t..” Toni begins, as it slowly begins to register that they’re both naked in bed after _clearly_ getting drunk, as the horrendous amount of drinks in their room clearly points to it. “You know.. we didn’t.. together..”

Cheryl catches on, blinking and shaking her head. “Well, Toni, considering we’re both naked in bed together and can’t remember anything, who knows what happened last night?” she asks, voice laced with frustration. 

Toni ignores her hostility. “At least if we had sex, we can’t remember,” she jokes, and Cheryl averts her gaze with a roll of her eyes, resting her forehead in the palm of her hands. She could _really_ use some Tylenol right now. 

They continue to sit there for a few more moments, until Cheryl blinks, and realizes she’s still sitting completely naked in bed with Toni Topaz, who she’s known for the past eight years only because she’s best friends with Jughead Jones, her cousin's boyfriend. They went to school together, and neither one were ever fond of the other - but eventually, they learned to tolerate each other due to the fact that they pretty much started running in the same group of friends, especially after high school. 

Still — of all of the friends that got dragged here to Vegas because of some stupid, extremely sought after New Year’s Eve party that for some reason Veronica insisted that _all_ of her close friends attend — she’s positive that Toni has to be the last person she would’ve wanted to be stuck in a situation like this with. 

Well, of course, it’s not like it would’ve even been possible for her to end up in bed with one of the guys, but she’s angry, and so as of now she’ll let herself think this is about as bad as it can get. 

“Jesus, why am I still sitting here?” Cheryl asks herself with a sigh, reaching down onto the floor to grab her thin shirt that seems like it was hastily thrown down last night, as well as her underwear and crumpled skirt. Toni continues to stare at her with wide eyes, and the redhead narrows them in her direction. 

“What the hell are you staring at me for?” she snaps. “Turn around!” 

Toni narrows her eyes for a moment as well, before turning around to face the wall with a slight smirk. “I mean, considering the fact that we probably had sex last night, I don’t think—“

_“God,_ shut up!” Cheryl hisses, quickly pulling on her clothes. She stands up, barely even able to avoid the immense amount of cans of beer on the floor —thank god they’re in Toni’s room, because she doesn’t think she’d be able to handle the prospect of having to clean up all of this, or paying extra for any stains. “Where’s my phone?”

Toni takes that as her cue to turn around, standing up and using the sheet to completely wrap around her body — thank heavens she actually has some basic respect, Cheryl thinks — scurrying to the bathroom to throw on some clothes. “I don’t know, I literally don’t remember _anything!”_

Cheryl sighs, quickly rummaging through the bed sheets, and then the drawers in the nightstand. Running a hand through her hair, she turns around, only to see it on the middle of the floor. With a grimace, she hesitantly picks it up, frowning upon seeing the screen cracked in half. 

_Damnit._ The redhead thinks, her frown deepening. _I just got this phone._

She turns it on, releasing a sigh of relief at the knowledge that it still works. She has two missed calls from Betty, _six_ missed calls from Veronica, a missed call from Archie, and a few texts from Josie asking where the hell she is and if she’s still with Toni. _All_ from last night.

There’s a couple of missed calls from Josie this morning, and a message from about ten minutes ago saying they’re all going down to the free breakfast the hotel offers. 

Toni comes out of the bathroom a few moments later with a large shirt and a pair of boy shorts on, looking down at her phone as well with a scowl — Cheryl assumes it looks similar to her own. 

“Uh, so are we gonna.. talk about.. _this?”_ Toni asks, and Cheryl rolls her eyes. 

“Do you remember _anything_ at all from last night?” she questions, and Toni worries her lip between her teeth.

“Well.. I remember laughing. Like, _a lot._ And I remember drinking.. and.. well, that’s about it,” she says, rubbing her temples.

“Okay, so you remember basically useless things, and I remember being at the party and leaving with.. who I think was you.” She also slightly remembers flirting with who she thinks was Toni, but she’ll be damned if she openly embarrasses herself like _that_. “What’s there to talk about?” she asks, quickly gathering her things and preparing to head back to her hotel room and pretend this _never_ happened. “I think what would be best is if we never spoke about this again.”

Toni watches her haste movements with a sigh, before nodding. “Uh, yeah, you’re probably right,” she agrees. “Jughead texted me that they’re down at the buffet — I’ll uh, I’ll see you there?” 

Cheryl nods without another word, exiting and closing the door behind her. 

  
  
  


They arrive at the same time, which doesn’t really help their ‘never talk about it again’ idea. The rest of the group is all there — aside from Jughead, who Cheryl assumes is probably up and serving himself to more food. There’s two empty chairs between Josie and Sweet Pea, and Cheryl takes a seat just as Toni does, licking her lips at the sight of the coffee already made, because she _seriously_ needs some coffee. 

Jughead sits down a few moments after them as Toni pours herself a cup, before offering to pour Cheryl a cup as well. The redhead nods, grabbing herself a biscuit from the basket that’s already there, and when they both look up, they notice that everyone is staring at them almost expectantly.

“Uh.. what?” Toni questions, as Cheryl eyes everyone wearily, before cutting into her biscuit with a knife. Jughead, Archie, Sweet Pea, Betty, Veronica, and Josie — literally everyone is just watching them.

“Are we not gonna talk about what you two did last night..?” Archie goes first, and Cheryl knits her brows together, glancing over at Toni in uncertainty.

“What are you talking about?” she asks, chuckling nervously. Jughead looks like he’s trying to stop himself from bursting into laughter, while Betty has a slight grimace on her face. “We didn’t.. we didn’t do anything last night.”

A beat passes, and Veronica chuckles, taking a sip of what Cheryl thinks is a breakfast mimosa, the thought of alcohol literally making Cheryl want to _vomit._ “Uh, yeah you did, Toni invited us all to watch.” 

Cheryl immediately reels around to face Toni, her face full of disgust.

“Cher,” Betty begins, a bit more soft, “we weren’t gonna miss our friends wedding.”

Now _that_ catches both of their attention. Cheryl gasps, a smile lighting up both of their faces. “Really?” Toni exclaims. “Who got married?” 

Archie furrows his brows together in confusion. He sits up a little straighter, before speaking. “Um.. you two did..?”

Cheryl blinks, a small frown forming on her face as Toni knits her brows together. “What? That’s absurd,” she says, as everyone continues to watch them in confusion. “We didn’t get married.” 

However, something about Toni’s silence is off putting. When the redhead flashes her gaze over to the pink haired girl, she’s biting her lip, before realization suddenly seems to dawn upon her. She slowly glances over at Cheryl with a grimace, and the redhead immediately narrows her eyes.

“No,” the redhead says, shaking her head. “No way in hell did we get married—“

“I think,” Toni begins, beginning to rub her temples one again. “I remember.. I remember being in the chapel, I..”

As soon as she says those words, the memories of running around in the chapel, holding _someone’s_ hand and calling out the words _just married!!_ come rushing back to the redhead. At once, she immediately takes her forehead into her hands, shaking her head once again.

“No way,” she repeats in complete denial, as Toni glances back up at the rest of the group. 

“God, we were _really_ drunk,” the pinkette breathes, “they.. they wouldn’t let people _that_ drunk get married, right?”

Sweet Pea suddenly chuckles, taking a sip of his water. “Of course they would. This is Las Vegas, everyone who gets married here _is_ drunk,” he says, apparently finding this entire thing amusing. Cheryl wants to wipe that fucking _smirk_ off his face, _God_ she hates him just as much as she hates Toni.

“Oh, shut up, you dirty—“

Veronica cuts her off. “Where’d you two even go after you disappeared from the party last night anyway? No one could find you two after the countdown,” she asks, the New Years Eve party they had come to Las Vegas for being last night. Cheryl vaguely remembers being at the party, and then suddenly Toni was just _there,_ and then they were laughing and in some dirty ass room-

“This is _your_ fault!” Cheryl suddenly cries, standing up from her chair as everyone watches in shock. “You were the one who wanted to come to Las Vegas for New Years, the one who dragged _everyone_ here! This wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for you!” she exclaims, pointing an accusing finger in Veronica’s direction. Toni stands up as well, resting a gentle hand on Cheryl’s bicep, but the redhead immediately pushes it away. “Don’t touch me, this is _your_ fault too!” 

That’s when Josie gets up. “Cheryl, calm down, you’re causing a scene,” she says, grazing her fingers over the other girl’s shoulders. Cheryl sighs, dragging a hand down her face, before sitting back down after a few moments and taking a sip of the water that Josie offers her. 

“Do you.. uh, did we do anything else we should know about?” Toni asks once everyone’s calmed down a few moments later, resting her chin on her intertwined hands as Cheryl goes back to rubbing her forehead. 

Archie shrugs, and Jughead smirks. “You mean aside from having sex and getting married?” 

Cheryl glares at him between her fingers.

“Oh.” Toni says, though in reality, Cheryl suspects she isn’t even that surprised. “So we.. uh..”

Now even Josie and Betty look like they’re trying not to laugh. Jughead chuckles. 

“I mean, I could hear Cheryl’s moans coming from like three bedrooms down, so—“

“Okay, I think that’s enough,” Betty stops her boyfriend, looking over at Cheryl, who looks like she’s about ten seconds away from murdering _everyone_ in the near vicinity. 

“What’re you guys gonna do?” Josie asks a few moments later, eating the rest of her eggs. Toni sighs.

“I have no idea,” she murmurs. “I guess.. get a divorce or something?” she asks, looking over at Cheryl. 

“Or an annulment?” Betty suddenly suggests, and Cheryl leans her head in Betty’s direction, more content with that idea. 

“Good idea,” the redhead says, standing up from the table again and gathering her things. “Let’s go get an annulment.”

Toni eyes her skeptically. “Um, right now?” she asks. “We just got here, and I’m _starving._ Can’t we eat before we go?”

Cheryl crosses her arms. “Food?” she mockingly repeats, narrowing her eyes. “You want _food?”_

“I want pancakes.” Toni clarifies. 

“Toni, I want this done as quickly as possible.” Cheryl argues, clenching her teeth together. “Our plane is in like, _four_ hours, who knows how long this procedure is gonna take?”

“That doesn’t stop me from wanting pancakes.” Toni says anyway, sitting up and dusting herself off as Cheryl watches her in disbelief. 

“I don’t care if you want pancakes, I want an annulment!”

“That’s no way to talk to your wife,” Toni jokes, and Cheryl looks like she’s literally about to self combust.

Toni sighs, stepping away from the table and leading Cheryl a few feet away so they don’t continue to argue in front of everyone else. “Look, I’ll tell you what, princess,” she begins, as Cheryl rolls her eyes at the nickname. “You give me fifteen minutes to eat some food and finish my cup of coffee, and then I’ll even pay for the cab to take us to wherever we need to go to get the annulment.” 

Cheryl blinks, taking a pale lip in between her teeth for a few moments (she was so hungover this morning she didn’t even bother painting on her usual shade of red) before sighing in defeat. 

“I suppose that’s fair,” the redhead murmurs, and Toni smiles, giving her a small pat on the shoulder, before happily going on her merry way toward the buffet. 

Josie rubs up and down Cheryl’s arm when the redhead makes her way back to the table and sits down, burying her face in her hands and biting her tongue to stop herself from screaming. 

“Of course something like this would happen to me on the first day of the new year,” she mutters to herself, squeezing her eyes shut. 

  
  
  


Thirty minutes later, after Toni stuffed herself with pancakes and Cheryl watched with a scowl each time she thought the girl was done, but Toni proved her wrong by chatting it up with Sweet Pea and Archie, Toni shuts the door behind her as they climb into a Lyft. 

The driver asks them where they’re heading, and Toni reads the name of the building off of her phone after looking up the destination. Cheryl doesn’t even notice they’re moving until Toni’s fingers graze against her bicep, pulling the redhead’s eyes from previously staring out of the window and toward herself.

“Hey,” Toni begins, voice a bit more softer than earlier, and it’s then that Cheryl realizes she’s shaking. “Are you okay?”

The redhead releases a small puff of air, eyes flashing down to the way Toni has her fingers gently wrapped around her arm, before turning to look back outside of the car.

“Well, let’s see. I have a killer headache, it’s the first day of the new year, I’ve suddenly gotten married, and Jughead probably won’t ever let me live down the fact that he could hear me— _us—“_ she cuts off, shuddering, squeezing her eyes shut. She has to be dreaming, oh God. “Oh God, what have I done?”

Toni’s grip on her bicep loosens, the pinkette releasing a small exhale. 

“Look, Cher, it’s going to be fine,” she says, sounding far too determined for someone in their situation. “We’re gonna go get an annulment, head back to the hotel and pack our things, go home, and this will all just be a funny story for us to talk about in a few years from now.” 

Cheryl sniffles, slowly turning to look over at Toni as the girl keeps a hand now resting on her shoulder. “Okay,” she murmurs, letting herself calm down just a bit. 

Everything is fine. 

  
  
  


Everything is definitely _not_ fine. 

Cheryl and Toni stand outside the small office building with the sign that reads as _closed_ on the front window. Toni is awkwardly scratching her neck, as Cheryl stands trembling beside her, having not said a word so far. 

“It’s closed,” Cheryl breathes eventually, and Toni fights the urge to make some sarcastic comment, because she can _clearly_ see that it’s closed. However, Cheryl looks like she’s ten seconds from bursting into tears, and so Toni decides against it.

“Hey, hey, it’s gonna be alright,” she says softly, pulling Cheryl out of the way of a small amount of oncoming people. The traffic of oncoming people is definitely worse in New York than it is here, so they’re used to it, but Cheryl doesn’t quite seem like she’s really paying attention to their surroundings. “We'll just come back,” she starts, eyeing the _closed_ sign to read the hours it’s open, “when it opens in.. _tomorrow?!”_

_Shit,_ Toni thinks, rolling her eyes. _Why the hell is it closed today?_

Cheryl still hasn’t said anything, and honestly, Toni thinks she’d prefer it if Cheryl were spitting insults at her instead of looking like she’s on the verge of having a breakdown on the first day of the new year.

“Okay,” Toni murmurs to herself, pulling her phone back out. “Let’s just look up another office. I’m sure Vegas has plenty.” 

She does exactly that as Cheryl suddenly presses a bit closer to her as a few strangers pass by them every so often on the quiet streets in the morning. However, nearly three minutes later, Toni comes to realize practically _every_ single office is closed. 

_Of course, it’s New Year’s Day-_

With a grimace, Toni nervously licks her lips, glancing up at the taller girl. Cheryl is leaning closer to her, her hands intertwined together as she nervously twiddles her thumbs. When she catches Toni looking at her, she exhales shakily.

“Did you find a place?” she asks hesitantly, and Toni stutters out a response.

“Uh.. well, it’s New Year’s Day and all..” the pinkette begins, watching as Cheryl’s face falls. “And I suppose that means that like half of the places here are closed,” she explains rather awkwardly.

Cheryl’s eyes narrow.

“So you’re telling me that we’re gonna have to wait till we get back to New York to figure this all out?” she asks, and Toni’s gulps.

“I.. I guess so..?”

Cheryl’s bottom lip trembles, and she begins to wonder why she’s this emotional in the damn first place, but Toni’s eyes widen and she immediately shakes her head.

“Cheryl, we’re gonna be fine. We’ll get this done eventually, whether that’s here or New York. I promise,” she quickly says, as Cheryl angrily wipes her tears away. 

“You keep saying that!” she exclaims, turning around and storming off in the other direction. “God, if my parents find out about any of this, about me — with a — with a _girl —_ they’re going to kill me, Toni! Like actually, downright murder me!” 

Toni quickly catches up to Cheryl, having to jog a bit (curse her shorter legs), and tries to keep up as the redhead continues to walk in the opposite direction of their hotel.

“Cheryl, please just slow down,” the girl tries. “Come on, let’s just — let’s just go back to the hotel, okay? We can sit down, make a plan and figure this out together.” 

Cheryl slows in her walking with what’s probably her hundredth sigh of defeat of the day, and Toni relaxes. 

“You’re going to be alright, Cheryl.” Toni tells her, a bit softer after the whole _my parents are going to kill me_ revelation. Cheryl still looks like she’s seconds away from bursting into tears, and so Toni hesitantly pulls her into a hug. “It’s going to be alright.” 

Cheryl’s shoulders slump, and she swallows the lump in her throat, not necessarily reciprocating the hug, but allowing herself to simply relax into Toni’s hold. 

“Okay.” 

*


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: i have no idea how any of this legal annulment and divorces stuff works, so basically everything that’s written on here is based on a bit of googling. if it’s not exactly correct (in this chapter and future chapters, which, i’m sure it won’t be) i apologize. 
> 
> anyway, as always, i hope you enjoy this chapter!

_“You’re_ **_married_** _?”_ Jason exclaims through the phone as Cheryl stands out on the balcony and snacks on a Snickers bar, the strong taste of chocolate and caramel on her tongue offering the minimal amount of relaxation within the entire messy situation she’s found herself in. _“How the hell did that happen?”_

(They had stopped at a convenience store for Tylenol before they came back to the hotel, where Toni had insisted she buy herself a bunch of candy, and then peer pressured Cheryl into buying one too when she heard the redhead’s stomach growl.)

Cheryl mindlessly glances down at the streets below, taking another bite from the chocolate bar. “I have no idea,” she sighs — and _thank God_ someone else is as concerned about this as she is, because one look at Toni stuffing herself with gummy bears and playing angry birds doesn’t exactly scream that she’s as worried about this as Cheryl is. 

_“Well, who’d you end up marrying? Is she cute?”_

Cheryl wrinkles her nose. 

“Do you remember Toni Topaz?” 

_“Uh, I think so. She went to highschool with us, right?”_ A beat passes. _“Wait, you married_ **_her?_ ** _Didn’t you like, hate her?”_

Cheryl runs a hand through her hair. 

“I don’t — I don’t hate her. She just..” she trails off, glancing through the glass window and watching as Toni lays on her back on the bed with her feet resting on the wall. “It‘s the first day of the new year, and I’m already in a really big mess, JJ.” 

Jason’s chuckle can be heard through the phone. _“What can I do to help?”_  
  
  


Toni’s halfway through a Hershey’s bar when Cheryl finally comes back inside from the balcony, apparently done with her _very important call._ The pink haired girl rolls over and sits up, crossing her legs. 

“What was that all about?” she asks, and Cheryl narrows her eyes. 

“Inquisitive, much?” Cheryl questions, but when Toni glances back up at the redhead, she has a playful smile on her face as she sits down on the bed. 

“I talked to my brother,” she begins, “and he gave me a bit of an idea—“

“Wait,” Toni cuts her off, and by the smirk on her face, Cheryl already knows what she’s about to say is going to be ridiculous. “Your hot twin? Jason?” 

A sigh escapes Cheryl as she rubs her eyes. She _cannot_ believe that she got stuck with _Toni_ of all people in a situation like this. 

“Can we just focus on this _horrible_ dilemma we’ve found ourselves in without you saying things like _that_ every ten seconds?” Cheryl snaps, and Toni shrugs with a playful smile. 

“If you want.”

Cheryl skeptically eyes the shorter girl for a few moments, before grabbing the notepad she had set down earlier. 

“ _As I was saying,_ since Jason is in law school, he was able to notify me of the grounds we need to get an annulment,” she says, writing a few words down as Toni scoots closer to her so she can see what she’s doing. “Apparently, being under the influence of alcohol or narcotics is one of them, which, we were,” she pauses, raising a brow at Toni, who nods in agreement, “so, as long as we get a judge and the necessary paperwork together, we can get this done in New York.” 

Toni nods along, glancing back up at Cheryl. 

“So what I’m hearing is, you were worrying for nothing, and we’ll have this done in no time.” 

Cheryl shrugs.

“Well, it’s easier said than done.” 

Toni purses her lips, before moving to get off the bed. “Okay, so I’ll get my paperwork together when we get back to New York, and then we can go to one of those clerk offices. How does that sound?”

Cheryl hums in agreement, just as Josie steps into the room. “Seems like a solid plan.” 

Toni gives a two fingered mock-salute, before making her way into the hallway of the hotel as Josie watches her go.

“So, how’d that go?” she asks, unscrewing the lid off of her chapstick and applying it to her lips. “You seemed like you were about to blow your top whenever you left earlier.” 

Cheryl rolls her eyes. “It went fine. We have a bit of an idea of what we’re gonna do, so.” She waves her hand, voice a bit higher pitched than normal as Josie watches her move around the room rather quickly. “I should shower and get packing, because we have to be at the airport in about an hour and I’m barely even ready to go.” 

Josie watches her haste movements as she hurries to gather what one could classify as the typical airport outfit every woman wears (leggings, sandals or slip on shoes, depending on the weather, and a hoodie). “Um, are you okay?” 

“What?” Cheryl asks, before waving her hand dismissively. “Yeah. I’m fine. I’m gonna shower.”

Josie skeptically eyes her best friend for a few moments, before nodding. “Alright girl, well, shout if you need anything, I’m probably just gonna finish packing my things.” 

Cheryl gives her best friend a tight lipped smile. Maybe she's still having a little bit of trouble processing this entire situation, but she’s fine.

“Thanks, J.” 

-

Sweet Pea lets out a groan the minute he opens the door, eyes taking in the entire _disaster_ that has become their hotel room. Toni flashes him a sheepish smile, a trash bag full of empty bottles in her hand. 

“Jesus Christ, T. What the hell were you two thinking last night? Even _I’m_ not that reckless.” He sighs, grabbing a spare trash bag and helping the pink haired girl clean the immense amount of empty bottles lying around the room. 

Toni pinches her nose. After having to grow up with an alcoholic uncle, _and_ having to support herself by working at a bar from the ages of sixteen to eighteen, she can say that she’s honestly not much of a drinker in fear of turning out like her relatives. 

“I have no idea, Pea,” she sighs, wincing when she steps on a tin can. “I remember being at the party, and then everything else after is just.. like, _really_ fuzzy.” 

Sweet Pea shrugs. “Well, one thing’s for sure; you really embraced the whole Las Vegas thing,” he says, and Toni glares up at him. “What? You got laid _and_ married, so I'd count it as a win.” 

Toni rolls her eyes. “Yeah. And I literally don’t remember _any_ of it. Like, how often does this even happen to people?” 

“It happens pretty often in TV shows,” Sweet Pea offers. “So, should I start calling you Mrs. Blossom?” he jokes, probably in an attempt to lighten up the mood. 

Toni blinks. “Who knows. We haven’t even found the marriage license, so I have no idea who took whose last name.”

“Honestly, based off what you’re telling me, after last night, it’s a miracle you two managed to get back in at least one of the right beds at the end of all of it,” Sweet Pea chuckles.

Toni rolls her eyes once again. “Let’s just hope we didn’t do anything else stupid, because I don’t need the police knocking on my door when we get back to New York.” 

She doesn’t get a response. 

Raising a brow, Toni glances over her shoulder from where she’s standing by the dresser, almost finished cleaning the bottles off of the wooden platform. Sweet Pea is in the small bathroom, completely unmoving and facing the small counter by the sink, holding something in his hands. 

“Sweets?” the pink haired girl hesitantly asks, setting her trash bag on the floor and slowly approaching him. “Are you alright?”

A few beats pass, and Toni hesitantly lays her hand on his shoulder. “Sweet Pea?”

Sweet Pea turns to face her with a grimace, holding Cheryl’s driver’s license in his hands, which is completely cut up into multiple pieces. 

Toni brings her hands to her forehead. “Oh _fuck.”_

Sweet Pea briefly glances down at the small pieces in his hands. “Uh, oh fuck is right!” he exclaims. “I don’t think she can get on the plane without this!” 

_Oh fuck._

Toni says nothing, only continuing to rub her temples and stare at the license, mentally preparing herself to get _shot_ when she ends up telling Cheryl what happened. 

“What’re you gonna do?” Sweet Pea asks, carefully setting the pieces of the license back down on the sink. “She’s literally going to kill you.” 

Toni throws her hands up into the air. “Well, it’s not like _I_ was the one who cut it up!” she exclaims in frustration, and Sweet Pea widens his eyes. “It _could’ve_ been her!” 

He takes a deep breath, picking up his trash bag and tying it closed, exiting the bathroom and patting Toni on the shoulder. “Good luck telling her that.” 

She releases a sigh, rubbing her neck. “I’m so fucked.”   
  


Cheryl’s just finished applying a bit of concealer to her _neck_ of all places because there had been a couple of bruises there that had caused her to cringe — she still can’t believe she had sex with someone she’s known for eight years — as Josie lays on the bed and talks about something related to some extremely cute guy who was flirting with her last night, when a soft knock sounds on the door. 

The redhead raises a perfectly shaped eyebrow and sets her stuff down, but Josie waves her hand and says she’ll get it. Cheryl nods, beginning to apply a bit of mascara, before Toni's quiet voice fills the room, followed by Josie saying: “She’s in the bathroom.” 

Less than ten seconds later, Toni is a few feet away from the bathroom door, her hands held behind her back as she nervously bounces on the balls of her feet. Cheryl raises a brow, motioning for Toni to talk as she gathers her things up in her makeup bag. 

Toni releases a small sigh. 

“You’re not gonna be happy,” she begins, still holding her hands behind her back. Cheryl turns to face the shorter girl, brows knit together in confusion.

“What’d you do this time, Topaz?” she asks, sounding tired. 

Toni swallows, before slowly revealing what she had been holding behind her back. 

In Toni’s hands is her license, which is completely cut up into _eight_ pieces, consisting of weird shapes and lines. Cheryl widens her eyes, and for a solid half minute, neither one of them dare speak a word. 

Toni swallows for no real reason at all. “I didn’t.. I didn’t do this, if that’s what you’re thinking. I mean — I don’t think I did, at least.. so..” 

Cheryl still hasn’t said anything, and Toni licks her lips, glancing around the bathroom rather awkwardly.

A few beats pass, and eventually, Cheryl releases a way too loud sigh and turns back to face the counter, setting her elbows onto it and taking her face into her hands. Another long time passes, and Toni doesn’t really know what else to do aside from stand there.

“So.. so I’m stranded.. in Las Vegas,” Cheryl eventually breathes out, more so to herself. She can’t get on the plane despite already having purchased her ticket because she doesn’t have a license, she can’t even rent a car and drive up to New York because again, she _doesn’t have a license._ She could call Jason again and ask him to come get her, but she can’t wait overnight in a hotel because she can’t even get a hotel for another night without that damn license. 

Toni awkwardly pats Cheryl’s back, because she still isn’t too sure what else she can do. 

“Maybe you can get a rental car? Drive back up to New York or something?” Toni eventually offers, glancing over at Josie and making a face that sort of translates as _help me,_ but the girl is smiling at something on her phone and hasn’t even seemed to realize what’s going on. 

Cheryl laughs, but it’s not filled with humor. She looks back up, shaking her head. “Toni, I don’t have a license till I can get back to New York and get a new one. How the hell am I supposed to drive there _without_ a license?” 

A careful, suggesting smile forms on Toni’s face. “No one has to know you don’t have a license..” 

Cheryl rubs her eyes. “I would rather _not_ get arrested on the first day of the new year, on top of everything else.” 

Toni takes her lip in between her teeth, considers her options for a few moments, before an idea suddenly pops into her head. “ _I_ have a license,” she states, and Cheryl looks up at her with narrowed eyes. 

“Gee, thanks for reminding me that I’m completely and utterly alone in this horrible, _horrible_ predicament,” she sighs, and Toni shakes her head. 

“No. I meant that as in — _I_ can drive. I can, uh, rent a car? Yeah, I can do that, and we can drive back to New York together.” 

Cheryl’s eyes widen. She straightens up a little bit, standing up and crossing her arms. The birds chirp outside her window.

“Really?” she squeaks. “After I’ve.. not really been the nicest person to you? For like, the past eight years?” 

Toni chuckles. “I think it’s my responsibility, being your wife now and all,” she jokes, and that finally cracks a slight smile out of Cheryl. She also feels a bit guilty, because they’re sort of both in this together, but as of now, it seems like Cheryl got stuck in the deeper end. “So, what do you say?” she asks. “Wanna drive across the country with me?” 

Cheryl rolls her eyes, but it’s playful this time. A smile rests on her lips, and while the entire energy coursing between them is unfamiliar, it’s not unwelcomed. 

“As long as we stay _far_ away from any sort of alcohol,” she answers, and Toni grins. 

“Deal.”

That wasn’t so bad after all. 

-

Toni ends up making a couple calls while Sweet Pea hurries to gather his things together with only five minutes left till everyone leaves to the airport. _Why_ he decided to wait till the last minute, Toni has no clue. 

“Why aren’t you downstairs already?” Sweet Pea asks as he throws a couple of shirts that were laying on the floor into his duffle bag. “We’re leaving in like ten minutes.”

Toni narrows her eyes. “Um, _you_ are leaving in like five minutes, actually, so I’d suggest _you_ hurry your ass up and get downstairs,” she says. Sweet Pea sighs, running a hand through his hair and taking a moment to glance around the room to make sure he’s got everything, before halting. 

“Wait, are you not coming or something?” he asks, tilting his head and crossing his arms together. “Did Cheryl like, hold your at gunpoint and threaten to shoot you if you didn’t stay with her?” 

Toni rolls her eyes. “No, you big oaf,” she says, getting off the bed and slipping her shoes on. Although her and Cheryl don’t have a specific time they have to leave Las Vegas since they aren’t gonna catch the plane, they do have to be out of the hotel room in less than twenty minutes for checkout, and well, Toni has a feeling Cheryl wants to get out of this place as quickly as possible. “I offered, because I felt bad.” 

“Really?” Sweet Pea asks, hiking his bag over his shoulder. “How’re you guys gonna get back?” 

Toni licks her lips. “We’re renting a car, and we’re gonna drive back to New York.” 

“Hm. Well, that’s nice. Good luck driving for like two straight days with her,” he says, and Toni is just about done with him. 

“God, she’s not the devil, Sweet Pea!” she snaps. Sweet Pea holds his hands up in surrender, and Toni bends down to get her suitcase, only for Sweet Pea to gasp.

“Holy shit,” he breathes, as Toni glances up with a raised brow. 

“What?”

The boy pauses, motioning for her to look in the mirror and at her neck. Toni does, and immediately, her eyes fall upon a _gigantic_ hickey peeking just over her collarbone, barely hidden by her shirt. There’s a smaller one directly under her jaw, too, but it’s not as noticeable. 

“Holy shit,” Toni echos, wincing as her fingers graze over the bruise. 

Sweet Pea stands beside her, looking like he’s two seconds away from bursting into laughter. “Well, at least that’s proof that she wanted you just as bad as you wanted her,” he chuckles, and Toni turns around and punches his arm, causing him to wince. “Okay, okay, sorry!” 

Sighing, Toni decides to just slip on a hoodie, before grabbing her suitcase and rolling it out of the room. Cheryl comes out just as they do, a couple of rooms down, holding two bags _and_ a suitcase, large sunglasses on even though they’re inside. 

“Damn, princess,” Sweet Pea mutters, “you needed all of that for a two day stay in Las Vegas?” 

Cheryl chooses not to respond and instead clicks on the button for the elevator. Toni eyes the amount of luggage she has wearily, suddenly glad she decided to rent them an SUV as opposed to anything else. 

The silence is sort of awkward as they all stand inside the elevator, the only noise being the small _ding_ it makes each time they go down a floor. Toni’s suddenly interested in the texture of the floor, before the elevator doors finally open and they step into the main area, with everyone else sitting on the couches as Betty talks to someone at the front desk. 

“Josie told us you two aren’t gonna be able to get on the plane with us?” Veronica asks in regards to Cheryl and Toni, and Cheryl sets her sunglasses on her head, gathering her flaming locks up into a loose bun. 

“Unfortunately,” she sighs, sitting down next to Archie. “Apparently, between everything that was happening last night, _someone_ thought it would be a good idea to cut up my license. So, I can’t exactly get on the plane, _or_ drive back to New York without it.”

Veronica purses her lips. “Damn, girl.” 

Jughead, who’s snacking on a bag of potato chips, opens his mouth to speak. “You guys are gonna drive all the way back to New York?” he questions, eyes wide. “That’s like — what? Thirty five hours or something?”

Toni winces. 

“It’s.. not that far,” she trails off as everyone glances at her, before sighing. “Yeah. It’s like thirty five hours.” 

Archie pats Cheryl on the shoulder. “Don’t worry you guys, I’m sure it’ll be fun. Think of it as like a massive road trip through the entire country,” he says, and Toni scratches her neck. 

“Yeah,” Cheryl sarcastically agrees, looking less than enthusiastic. “Fun.”

Twenty minutes later, Cheryl’s cramming all of her things in the trunk of the SUV, while Toni sets her suitcase in the backseat. She shuts the trunk with a thump, before sitting down in the passenger seat with a sigh of relief. She cannot wait to get the hell out of this place.

Toni gets into the driver's seat next to her, and if Cheryl’s being honest, she’s a little nervous, because she’s only ever seen Toni drive a motorcycle. 

Her worries only intensify when Toni gets in and does nothing but eye a few of the buttons near the wheel. 

“Toni, _please_ tell me you know how to drive a car,” the redhead sighs, already beginning to regret this. Toni waves her hand at the taller girl, and miraculously manages to start the car after a few more moments. 

“I do know how to drive a car, don’t worry. It’s just been a while,” she says, and Cheryl wonders if that was supposed to relax her nerves as she glances out of the window, watching as they slowly back out of the parking spot, before peeling away from the hotel. 

“Oh, and I forgot to mention, I found our marriage license,” the pink haired girl suddenly announces, and Cheryl jerks her head around so quickly she’s sure she gets whiplash. 

“Did you bring it?” she asks, and Toni nods. They stop at a stoplight, and Toni leans over, fishing the folded and almost ripped up piece of paper out of her pocket, before handing it to Cheryl. 

The redhead’s eyes glance over the paper, and she immediately winces.

 _Oh god,_ she thinks, reading carefully over the words. _Joined in lawful wedlock._

Her signature is big and loopy at the bottom, but _way_ messier than usual. Beside it, is another word Cheryl can barely understand.

“What kind of signature is this?” Cheryl asks, biting her lip to keep herself from laughing. Toni snatches the paper from her hand, eyes glazing over the writing, before handing it back to Cheryl as the light turns green. 

“It’s my name,” she says. Cheryl squints her eyes. 

“Ant?” she asks. “I thought your name was Toni.”

Toni rolls her eyes. “That’s not my usual signature. But yeah, Toni is just a nickname. Ant is a nickname, too. My parents.. uh, they used to call me that.”

The mood of the car suddenly grows somber with the usage of past tense, and Cheryl can tell almost immediately what Toni’s insinuating by the way her demeanor changes. 

“Oh,” the redhead breathes. Toni offers a slight smile, and Cheryl glances back at the marriage license in her hand, before biting her lip. “Can I ask what your real name is?” she questions, quietly, like she’s afraid Toni will break if she’s too loud.

Toni blinks. That’s definitely not how she was expecting Cheryl to react - but it _is_ a pleasant surprise.

“Nope,” the pink haired girl decides, popping the _p._ “Very few people know my real name.” 

Cheryl suddenly pouts, and Toni briefly glances over at the redhead with a chuckle. She’s seen Cheryl pout a multitude of times, but this time, it’s as if it _actually_ has an affect on her. Maybe it’s because this woman is suddenly her wife and got thrown into this mess right alongside her, or maybe it’s because she knows they’re going to have to spend the next two days together, Toni isn’t sure.

“Don’t pout at me, princess.” Toni eventually manages to say, and Cheryl’s pout deepens. 

“Come on, I’m sure it can’t be _that_ bad.” 

Toni rolls her eyes. “I hate it. Like, truly hate it,” she admits, and Cheryl goes back to biting her lip, glancing out the window. Toni looks back over at her as they stop at yet another red light, and she isn’t sure if it’s the way her full lip is hidden just underneath her perfect, pearly white teeth, or if it’s the way the sunlight is reflecting off her face, but damn, has Cheryl always been this beautiful and she’s just never realized it? 

“Is it Antonia?” she asks, and Toni immediately wrinkles her nose with a chuckle. Cheryl purses her lips, staring back outside of the window at all of the large buildings they pass as Toni heads for the highway. 

“Ant.. Antoinette?” she tries again, and Toni doesn’t respond, eyes flashing toward the map on her phone, and then back to the road in front of them. 

“It’s Antoinette, isn’t it?” Cheryl questions, and Toni rolls her eyes with a playful smile. 

A pleased hum escapes Cheryl’s lips. “That’s a beautiful name, Toni. I’m surprised you don’t like it,” she compliments, voice soft, and Toni glances at her for a split second, eyes narrowed with a smile on her face. 

“Is _the_ Cheryl Blossom complimenting me?” she asks with a laugh, and she can see Cheryl’s cheeks become aflame with red through the rear view mirror. “Are the tides really changing?”

Cheryl shakes her head. “Don’t get used to it,” she says, leaning her head back against the window. Toni simply laughs, tanned fingers drumming against the steering wheel.

The car is filled with silence for a while — though, it’s strangely pleasant, and unlike all the other times her and Cheryl had been left in an awkward silence. Eventually, Cheryl glances over at the pink haired girl, head still leaning against the glass window.

“Toni?” 

“Hm?” Toni hums. 

A beat passes.

“Why do you dye your hair pink?” she asks, and Toni can feel Cheryl’s dark brown orbs burning into her. 

She shrugs.

“I like the color,” she says, because that’s the truth. She’s always loved the color pink, even when she was younger. 

“When did you start dying it?” Cheryl asks again, and Toni tilts her head, considers answering that question, before pursing her lips. 

”No, it’s my turn,” she decides, and Cheryl raises a brow, but let’s her speak. “What’s _your_ favorite color? Is it actually red?” 

Cheryl takes a moment to respond, and when Toni looks over at her, because of course the road to get on the highway from the downtown area of Vegas is full of traffic, she looks deep in thought.

“Yes, it’s actually red. Although I do suspect it had a lot to do with the color sort of being forced down my throat when I was younger, I truly do like it.” 

Toni raises a brow at the confession. She has the itching urge to question Cheryl further about that, because she knows her parents aren’t the best people, but she doesn’t truly know the extent of it. 

“What do you mean—“ 

“Nope, my turn.” Cheryl interrupts, and Toni chuckles. “What do you go to school for?” 

“Photography,” Toni answers - which, Cheryl clearly doesn’t seem to find too surprising. “You?” 

“Psychology.” Now _that_ seems to take Toni by surprise, as the pink haired girl raises both of her eyebrows. “What do you like to take pictures of?” 

While most of their questions and answers have been pretty straightforward, Toni immediately pauses. There’s a multitude of ways she could answer this, but instead, she decides to keep it simple. She enjoys the thought of keeping Cheryl wondering. “Beautiful things.” 

Cheryl raises a brow. “That’s not an answer,” she says flatly, but Toni shakes her head and chuckles. 

“Mhm, well it’s my turn now,” she says, licking her lips and thinking of another good question. “Hm.. when were you born?” she asks, because she knows they have to be sometime around the same age, since they were in the same grade - unless, Cheryl’s like, incredibly smart, and got moved up a year, which, Toni wouldn’t even be surprised. 

“August 14th, 1998,” she announces, glancing over at Toni. “And what about you?”

Toni blinks. Cheryl being a Leo isn’t too surprising. “February 2nd, 1998,” she states,before a smug grin makes its way to her face. “Which means I’m older than you.” 

“Well, you definitely don’t act like it,” she teases, and Toni smiles.

“Low blow, Blossom. Low blow,” she tightens her grip on the steering wheel as they _finally_ get on the highway. “What’s your favorite food?” 

“Celery. What’s your favorite song?”

Toni wrinkles her nose. “Wait - I’m sorry, did you just say _celery?”_ she asks, and Cheryl nods with a raised brow. “Celery? Seriously? There’s like, millions of foods out there, and you said _celery?_ I-“

“It tastes good.”

“- _cannot_ believe I married you.”

Cheryl rolls her eyes. “I like the flavor.”

“What flavor?!” Toni exclaims, which spurs a laugh out of Cheryl. 

“Stop changing the subject. What’s your favorite song?” 

Toni bites her lip. “Okay, if I tell you, you absolutely cannot make fun of me,” she says, and Cheryl holds her pinky up. Toni eyes her skeptically, and Cheryl shrugs.

“It’s a thing me and my twin do all the time,” she explains, and Toni’s eyes narrow, before she finally reaches over, intertwining their pinkies for a few moments, and then letting their hands fall down onto the console before letting go.

“Can’t Help Falling In Love,” she answers, softly, and Cheryl widens her eyes. 

“That really old song by Elvis?” she asks, and Toni gives a small nod. “Wow, I _did not_ expect that.” 

Toni huffs. “Yeah, I’m sure you didn’t.”

Cheryl immediately corrects herself. “No, I just meant that.. I don’t know, you just don’t seem like the type of girl to listen to that type of music, you know?” 

“Oh, really?” Toni asks, though her demeanor is back to being playful. “What type of music do you think I would listen to, hm?”

Cheryl shrugs. “I don’t know. Something like hard rock or rap, I suppose. Like, the type of music where they’re screaming the entire time.” 

Toni pinches her nose. “Uh, no. That’s more of Sweet Pea’s type of music. I like older music. Everything just.. seems more innocent, you know?” 

A laugh is pulled out of Cheryl. “Songs about love?”

Toni narrows her eyes, and Cheryl waves her off. 

“But yeah, I understand what you mean. While Elvis isn’t my favorite singer, I can definitely appreciate his music.” 

“That’s all I’m asking for.” Toni says, before tilting her head in Cheryl’s direction. “Okay.. what about.. favorite Disney villain?” 

Cheryl’s brows knit together. A bit of a random question, if you ask her. 

“Um.. maybe Ursula. I like the song she sings in the movie. Or — actually, I really like Mother Gothel. They both have fabulous anthems.”

Toni nods in agreement. 

“And yours?”

“Oh, that’s easy. Scar.” 

Cheryl wrinkles her nose. “From The Lion King?” she asks, and Toni hums. “What did he do again?”

Toni looks at her in sheer horror. “What do you mean what did he do? He killed Mufasa, which is like, top three saddest Disney deaths of all time. And then he chased Simba away and made him think it was his fault!” 

Cheryl has to fight the urge to not laugh at Toni’s little outburst. “Oh, that’s right,” she says, turning back to look at the pink haired girl. “You were _that_ person, weren’t you?” 

Toni raises a brow. “What?”

“The one who cried during the death scenes of _Disney_ movies,” she teases, and Toni’s cheeks suddenly feel warm. 

“I didn’t say that,” she defends herself. “My point is, Scar is an amazing Disney villain, he’s like one of the only ones who actually accomplished what he set out to do.” 

Cheryl hums in agreement. A few beats pass, and she leans her head against the window and curls up into herself in an attempt to get comfortable, eyes fluttering shut. “Maybe we can watch it together someday.”

Toni smiles, glancing over at Cheryl’s curled up form. Maybe this trip won’t be so bad after all. 

“Yeah,” she agrees. “Someday.” 

*


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so now that i have an outline on this fic and i pretty much know what i want to do with this, i’m just letting everyone know this will probably be more on the light hearted and fun side, as opposed to being angsty. there still might be some angst, but probably not a lot. but i mean, hey, what can you expect from a woke up married in vegas fic

Cheryl wakes up slowly, like emerging from underwater. The warmth radiating underneath the blanket keeps her feeling far too comfortable to move, despite the small space and the stiffness in her legs. 

She feels soft and pleasant, in a strange way. It’s almost unfamiliar _._

Opening her eyes, Cheryl allows a yawn to escape her mouth as she slowly sits up and stretches her legs, before leaning back as much as the small confinement of her seat allows and stretching her arms above her head, smiling when she hears a satisfying _pop._

“Finally awake?” Toni teases, and Cheryl blinks, taking in their surroundings. They’re on a long road that looks like it has no end, surrounded by what she would classify as the desert. There’s sand and dead plants and orange plateau’s, and she suddenly feels a bit nervous. The sun is beginning to set in the distance, the sky matching the color of the sand. 

At least inside the car, Elvis is playing quietly on the radio connected to Toni’s phone (Cheryl assumes now that Toni’s revealed her _dark_ secret of liking the guy, that’s all she’s going to hear for the rest of the trip), and a fluffy blanket is covering her lap. The small green digits above the console tell her that it’s already half passed six. 

“Wow, I’m sorry,” Cheryl murmurs, glancing over at the older but shorter girl. “I had no intentions of falling asleep for two hours.” 

Toni waves her off. “It’s alright. I had a pretty good time jamming out to music by myself,” she chuckles, and by her tone, Cheryl honestly doesn’t doubt it. 

“So, where are we?” she asks, glancing back outside the window wearily.

“We crossed the border to Utah right before you woke up,” Toni says, clicking on something on her phone to take her back to the map. “Only thirty four hours left.” 

Cheryl nods in acknowledgement, deciding that as long as they have service, they should be fine. Instead of worrying, she glances back down at her lap and at the blanket she knows wasn’t there before she fell asleep. 

“Did you put this blanket on me?” she asks, voice quiet, the hints of a smile forming on her face.

The gesture is small, but still thoughtful, and as she looks at Toni, who had been previously mouthing along with _The Beatles_ , the girl falters, grip tightening on the wheel for a split second. 

“Well, I— uh,” she splutters, before shrugging. “I had to pull over to get gas,” she eventually settles on, “and you looked cold, so.” 

The smile on Cheryl’s face grows. She glances back down at her hands, playing with her rings in an almost nervous manner. They’re only three hours into this trip, and Toni’s found a way to surprise her several times already. 

“Well, I appreciate the gesture,” Cheryl says eventually as she turns away to look back outside. Toni shrugs, though Cheryl can tell she’s trying to hold a smile. 

Things stay quiet for a little bit, with soft, old music pouring in from the radio as Cheryl leans her head against the window and stares at the pastel colors painting the sky in the distance. She thinks about the fact that she’s been in the car with Toni for like, three hours, and she’s suddenly gone from not liking the girl to maybe, _maybe_ appreciating her company.

And it’s— it’s _weird,_ when she glances over at Toni, simply studying her profile and the way she’s focused on the road in front of them but continues to hum along to whatever song is playing with a relaxed look on her face. 

Toni, and her plump pink lips and the sharp structure of her face, and her golden tanned skin and pink curls that almost perfectly frame her face, and— 

“Cheryl?” Toni asks, snapping Cheryl out of whatever spell she had previously been cast in. Cheryl blinks, and sits up, glancing around the car once again as if she can’t believe what just happened. 

Because she— she _knows_ Toni’s attractive. Anyone could see that, and Cheryl _knows_ she’s attracted to girls, but it’s not like— it’s just.. why is she just now suddenly seeing Toni in a different light after knowing her for eight years? 

Cheryl rubs her eyes. “Uh, what?” she answers, and Toni raises an amused eyebrow.

“You were staring,” she says, and Cheryl shrugs.

“Uh, sorry,” she apologizes, cheeks heating up at the thought of being caught. A beat passes, and she flexes her cramped legs. “Can we stop somewhere really quickly? I wanna stretch my legs.” 

Toni eyes her skeptically. “It hasn’t even been that long,” she points out, and Cheryl rolls her eyes, the more familiar energy that usually courses between them returning almost immediately. 

“Well, you’re like, a munchkin, so,” she says. “I think there’d be a greater chance my legs would hurt more than yours.” 

It’s Toni’s turn to roll her eyes. “You’re literally like two inches taller than me, at most,” she says. “Your legs are probably only cramped because you spent so long curled up on the seat.” 

Cheryl pouts, and Toni’s expression softens. “Don’t tease me, I was tired.” 

A beat passes, and Toni seems to regain her bearings. “I apologize,” she murmurs, before continuing, “however, I think it’ll be another hour or so before we’re in St. George, which is the nearest city, so unless you’d like me to pull over on the side of the road, it might be awhile.” 

Cheryl visibly deflates. She peers outside of the window once again — it looks as if there’s literally _no_ signs of life for miles, and shudders. 

“Have you ever been stuck in a desert like this?” she asks, and Toni raises a brow.

“Cheryl, this is _not_ a desert, and we’re definitely not stuck here,” she says, glancing over at the pouting redhead with an amused smile. “Do people ever tell you how dramatic you can be?” 

Cheryl rolls her eyes, slumping back in her seat and staring outside the window. “Well, you’re the one who married me, so.” 

“Ah,” Toni chuckles, deciding to play along. “You got me there.” 

The taller girl doesn’t respond, but when Toni glances over at her, she swears she sees the hints of a smile threatening to overtake her features. 

-

They ended up arriving in St. George just under an hour later, and Cheryl had looked incredibly relieved the moment an actual building was in sight and stepped out of the car like she hadn’t been outside in _days_. Toni couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Cheryl’s flair for dramatics. 

Now, Cheryl’s holding a glass mug as she waits for Toni to get out of the restroom that reads as: _Welcome to Utah, Life Elevated._

Furrowing her brows, Cheryl glances back up at the row of antiques offered to her, and briefly considers buying something for Jason. Something small, something she can maybe sneak into her purse without Toni seeing and making fun of her for it—

“I didn’t know you were into antiquing,” a voice says behind her, and Cheryl yelps in surprise, dropping the _glass_ (!) mug for a split second and having to scramble for the damn thing before it hits the floor and shatters. She barely manages to catch it, and when she glances up, Toni is standing a couple of feet in front of her with an amused smirk on her face. 

Cheryl’s cheeks flush in embarrassment, and she shakes her head, setting the mug back where she found it. 

“I’m - uh, I’m not,” she lies, and Toni narrows her eyes. 

“Really?” she asks, taking ahold of the mug Cheryl was previously holding. “Because it seems like you were really concentrating on—“

Cheryl snatches the mug from Toni’s hand and carefully sets it back down where she found it, before crossing her arms and turning to face the other girl. 

“Listen, I don’t need you or _any_ of our friends teasing me for this, so don’t you _dare_ mention it to anyone when we get home—“

Cheryl cuts off upon seeing Toni simply stare at her with an amused expression, a chuckle escaping her mouth. The redhead narrows her eyes, clenching and unclenching her jaw. 

“What’s so funny?” she asks, and Toni shrugs.

“You are,” she says, tilting her head. “Especially when you get all riled up. I mean, you’re into _antiquing._ Who would’ve guessed?”

The younger girl blinks, before shaking her head. “Well, you’re into old, 50s music. So I guess we’re both finding things out about each other the other wouldn’t have guessed.” 

Toni chuckles again, before suddenly holding up her pinky and smiling. 

“How about, whatever things we find out about each other for the rest of this trip,” she pauses, tilting her head, “things that no one else knows of course, we promise not to tell anyone else.” 

Cheryl hesitates for a brief moment — why, she isn’t even sure — before slowly bringing her hand up to intertwine their pinkies, similar to a couple of hours ago. Toni offers her a reassuring smile, and Cheryl returns it after a few moments, a slight giggle escaping her mouth at how ridiculous this is. 

“Sounds good,” she says, and Toni’s smile widens as she stuff her hands into the pockets of her jacket. 

“So, wanna get something to eat before we get back on the road?” 

  
  
  


They end up heading to some small, old town looking diner a few places down from the antique shop they had stopped at to stretch their legs. Toni had mentioned something about wondering if the milkshakes were better than Pops, and then Cheryl had looked at her in shock and asked her how she could’ve _ever_ thought to even fathom the idea. 

Toni’s starting to find it kind of adorable how Cheryl can get riled up over the smallest things, and well. It’s different, of course, how Toni’s beginning to feel about her, but it’s not.. 

It’s not bad.

It’s a _good_ kind of different. 

“Welcome to Wagon Wheel Diner!” someone greets them when Toni opens the door for the taller girl, which results in Cheryl thanking her before walking in. She chooses a small booth to sit down in, and Toni slides in across from her, immediately opening the menu and eagerly licking her lips.

“So, what’re you gonna get to eat?” she asks, stomach grumbling. “Oh, wait, you’re probably just gonna get a plate of _celery,_ aren’t you?”

Cheryl rolls her eyes, before scanning through her list of options in the menu. “Celery is incredibly underrated, okay? It’s like — a go to food. You can’t _not_ like it. I mean, you can eat it when you’re hungry _and_ thirsty, and it’s like perfectly crisp. Plus, it’s healthy.” 

Toni chuckles. “Whatever makes you happy,” she says, tilting her head. “How’s that saying go? Happy wife, happy life?” 

Cheryl blushes, and thank god the waitress comes over with a notepad and a cheerful smile, because she’s positive she’s almost as red as the hair adorning the top of her head. 

The waitress takes longer than normal to write down their orders (Toni just keeps _talking_ and _talking_ and Cheryl wonders if she’s ordering the whole damn menu or if she’s just _that_ good at making conversation). Eventually, she leaves, and Cheryl decides Toni’s natural charisma is probably the reason it took her so long to take their order. 

“You really do just get along with everyone, hm?” Cheryl asks, taking a drink out of her glass of water that had been provided the moment they say down. 

Toni shrugs, glancing out of the window and at the Christmas lights that still haven’t been taking down. “I mean, not everyone,” she says, a teasing smirk tugging at her lips. “Took me like, over a year to at least engage in a _normal_ conversation with you.”

She means it in a light, friendly kind of way, but Cheryl can’t help but feel a bit of guilt pooling in her chest at the thought. Just this time twenty four hours ago, she was probably snapping at Toni and wouldn’t have even really considered them to be friends, and now the girl is literally married to her and offered to drive all the way from Las Vegas to New York with her. 

She feels bad, to say the least, because she’s only _truly_ spoken to Toni in an attempt to try to get to know her in any kind of way for about an hour in the eight years that they’ve known each other. And from what she’s discovered so far, Toni really isn’t even as bad of a person as Cheryl made her out to be. In fact, Cheryl could even admit she’s slightly intrigued.

“I’m sorry,” the redhead blurts out of nowhere, and Toni glances back up at her.

“For what?” she asks, furrowing her brows together. 

Cheryl pauses, taking a deep breath. 

“Uh.. for everything, I guess,” she says, and the frown on Toni’s face only deepens. “I don’t really mean today,” she corrects herself. “Because — today’s sort of been weird and I’m still processing it, honestly. But I just mean.. like, in general. For just.. not really ever being the best person for you to be around,” she shrugs, suddenly beginning to feel a bit embarrassed. 

She averts her gaze when a few beats pass and Toni doesn’t do anything. However, eventually, the pink haired girl leans forward, knuckles pressing against Cheryl’s fingers on the table. She can see Toni duck her head in her peripheral vision, probably trying to get the her to look at her. 

“Cheryl,” she begins, voice soft, fingers resting just barely on top of Cheryl’s. “It’s okay. Really.”

The redhead lets out a small sigh, eyes flitting up to Toni’s light brown eyes, and when she does, she finds that the girl is watching her with a soft smile. 

“I wasn’t ever really fond of you, I’ll admit,” she says, and Cheryl’s breath hitches. “But, it was never just your fault. I didn’t make it any easier for you to get along with me, either. It’s not just one sided.”

Cheryl swallows heavily, gazing back down at their brushing hands. Everything about this situation is _so_ strange and unfamiliar, but so welcoming at the same time. 

“But what matters is that I’m willing to put all of that behind me, if you are,” she finishes, tilting her head. Cheryl takes a deep breath.

“Like starting over?” she asks, voice small.

Toni laughs. “Sort of. I mean, as much as you can when you’re already married to someone.”

The joke pulls a laugh out of Cheryl as well, seemingly breaking the previous tension between them. It almost feels like they’re starting on a fresh, clean plate, despite the fact that they’re, well, married. But, that’s a problem for when they get back to New York, Cheryl decides. 

She wants to enjoy herself a bit. 

The waitress comes back to bring their food — as predicted, Toni ordered a burger and extra fries, grumbling something about how Cheryl making her look bad when the waitress set down a chicken salad for the redhead. 

Cheryl shrugs. “Well, I’ve heard your appetite is one that matches Jughead’s, so this was to be expected.” 

Toni takes a bite out of her burger, and Cheryl cringes when she spills a bit of ketchup on her jeans. 

“Mm, well, I can’t argue with that. Me and him used to have competitions to see who could eat the most all the time,” she announces, using a wet napkin to wipe herself clean, before reaching for the milkshake to take a sip — it’s _nothing_ like Pop’s, but it’s not bad, either — and speaking again. 

“So, I know that we sort of talked about this already this morning,” she begins, sticking a fry in her mouth as Cheryl uses her fork to mix her salad, “but, now that we’re on better terms and our heads don’t feel like they’re gonna combust, I was just wondering if you actually remember anything else from last night. Like, aside from what we already know.”

Cheryl raises a brow, and Toni clears her throat. 

“So we can tell the judge, for whenever we get an annulment.”

The redhead chews particularly hard on a crouton, picking at her salad with furrowed brows. Everything from last night is sort of a blur for her, though she remembers a bit more than this morning. 

For example, now she thinks she remembers that they were all at the party together, at least till the countdown. She also remembers leaving the party with Toni — why, she isn’t too sure — and she remembers being back in the hotel room with the girl as well. Laughing, and drinking _a lot._

Everything else in between is just sort of one big blur. 

When she tells Toni exactly that, the pink haired girl nods, appearing to be deep in concentration as she slowly chews on the food in her mouth. 

“Then we know that we were at the party together and left for unknown reasons. Probably went back to the hotel and got drunk, left and got married, and then somehow managed to get back into the correct hotel room. Or, at least one of them,” she says softly, counting off her points on her fingers. “I’d say that’s a pretty decent summary, for now, at least,” she adds, purposely leaving out the fact that they had to have had sex somewhere along the way. 

Cheryl nods in agreement.

“So,” she begins, “you had _eating_ competitions with Jughead?”

Toni laughs. 

“Eat your celery.”

-

They end up back on the road a little after nine, when the sun’s already long gone and the Christmas lights that are still hung up on a variety of buildings are the only thing that lights up the streets. 

“What happens if we get pulled over?” Toni asks as she sits down in the passenger seat and reclines it all the way down, just as Cheryl adjusts the driver’s seat (Toni sits _way_ closer to the wheel than Cheryl ever would, but then again Cheryl likes to think Toni is also _way_ shorter than her). 

“Well, let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that I suppose,” she answers as they begin down the road. 

Toni leans her head against the door, staring out onto the street and the passing cars once they’re back on the highway. It’s quiet, with no music playing, and strange enough, it’s almost.. therapeutic.

They drive for a couple of hours. Cheryl’s thoughts switch from eyeing Toni every once in a while and not quite understanding why her feelings for her are so rapidly changing, to flipping through the radio and listening to whatever’s on, to simply relaxing and enjoying the silence and the dark sky, where it’s far easier to see the stars in comparison to New York.

By then, it’s a little past eleven, and they’re a little more than halfway through Utah. Cheryl’s almost positive that Toni’s asleep, considering she hasn’t said a word in a couple of hours, when suddenly, Toni’s ringer on her phone blares. Cheryl gasps at the suddenness, thankful that they’re stuck in a bit of a stop and go traffic as she clasps her hand to her chest. 

The pink haired girl groans, shifting in her reclined seat and reaching for her phone. The ringer is _loud,_ and Cheryl has to grit her teeth to keep herself from asking Toni why the hell she had it that loud in the first place. 

“Hello?” Toni asks groggily, and Cheryl raises a brow when she hears a feminine voice on the other side of the phone. “Hello? Hel— yes, I can hear you, Jesus,” she murmurs, rubbing her eyes. “Why are you calling? I— no, I’m not driving while on the phone.. yeah, I’m sure, I.. oh, well, I’m glad you guys made it back safely.”

Given the context clues, Cheryl’s able to piece together the fact that it’s probably one of their friends calling. She can’t help but listen in on the conversation. She’s nosy, sue her. 

“Thanks. Oh, and— wait, what? It’s not— that’s not— you know what, never mind,” Toni sighs, looking less than pleased as she suddenly pulls the phone away from her ear and hangs up. 

With the traffic, Cheryl’s able to glance over at Toni for longer than a second, a red brow raised. Toni releases another sigh, scrolling through her phone, before shutting it off and answering the question Cheryl was about to ask. 

“That was Betty. She called to tell me they just landed and that they wish us the best of luck. Then Sweet Pea got on the phone, asked me how my honeymoon was going. So I hung up,” she explains, rolling her eyes when she gets to Sweet Pea’s portion. Cheryl briefly wonders how those two are best friends. 

“Oh,” the redhead mumbles, and as it begins to register what Toni’s just said, she feels a bit of warmth creeping up her neck. 

They don’t say anything for a while. Toni sits up and turns up the radio and goes through the channels for a few moments, before plugging her phone in and choosing a song on there. The full moon shines above them. 

“This _is_ kind of like a honeymoon,” Cheryl finds herself saying a couple of moments later. Toni turns her head to face her, a smirk tugging at her lips. 

“I never would’ve thought I’d be the you’d be saying that to,” she teases with a fond smile, and Cheryl rolls her eyes. 

“I’m just stating the obvious,” she says, eyes narrowed. “Isn’t this what most newlyweds do? Get married, and go on some exotic trip somewhere?” 

“I think Hawaii or California or something would be more ideal, especially for people like you,” Toni chuckles, and Cheryl knits her brows together. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Toni shrugs. A beat passes. “Well, if your expecting me to carry you bridal style into our new house, it’s not happening,” she smirks as Cheryl rolls her eyes. 

“Oh please, I couldn’t even fathom the idea,” she says, and Toni laughs. It’s like music to her ears. “And besides — I’m sure _I_ would be the one to carry _you._ ” 

The laughter immediately stops falling from Toni’s mouth, and Cheryl watches in amusement as the pink haired girl turns to look at the younger one with a look of disbelief on her face. 

“Um, no way, I’m definitely way stronger than you, Red,” she says, a brow raised almost in challenge. Cheryl narrows her eyes. 

“You’re like, way shorter than me. No way you can pick me up, _and_ carry me _bridal style_ through a door,” she argues. “However, with how tiny your body is, I know for a fact anyone would be able to pick you up, no matter how strong.” 

Toni rolls her eyes. “We’ve already gone over this. I’m only like two inches shorter than you, at _most_. It’s not my fault you always wear those damn six inch heels,” she pauses, thinking. “So, point is, _I_ would be the one carrying you.” 

Cheryl smirks. “Okay,” she says, voice easy. Toni narrows her eyes. 

“I would!” 

“Alright,” Cheryl shrugs, and Toni clenches her jaw. She’s purposely provoking her, and it’s working. 

“Pull the damn car over,” Toni snaps, and Cheryl laughs. 

“What?” 

“Pull over.”

Cheryl raises a brow. “Toni, we’re on a highway. I know you’re desperate to prove your.. whatever it is you’re trying to prove, but no way am I pulling over on a _highway_ for you to do that in the middle of the night.”

“The middle of the night? Cheryl, what the hell, it’s like eleven?” 

A beat passes. “Well, I’m still not doing it.” 

Toni watches her for a few more moments, Cheryl able to feel her light brown eyes burning into the side of her head, before the older girl finally crosses her arms and sits back. 

“Only because you know I’ll win.”

Cheryl clenches her teeth. 

“Fine!” she snaps, not at all pleased at how quickly the control went from her hands into Toni’s hands as she takes the nearest exit. The map says they’re in some city called Richfield, and Cheryl’s glad, because it looks like once they get passed this city, it’s going to be _hours_ of just driving through nothing, where there’s no buildings in sight and the road seems like it stretches on forever. 

_I hate Utah._

A couple of minutes later, Cheryl pulls over at a small Subway Sandwich place, and she's barely even putting the car into park before Toni’s unbuckling her seatbelt and turning to face her, elbow on the console and arm up, hand flexing.

“Come on,” she says, and Cheryl rolls her eyes.

“Seriously, Toni? Arm wrestling?” she asks. “Are you seven years old or something?”

Toni rolls her fingers, and Cheryl can see the tug of her lips, the beginnings of a smirk playing on her face. “What? Too scared I’ll beat you, Blossom?”

Cheryl’s mouth drops. 

A beat passes, and the redhead eyes her shorter counterpart for a few moments with her jaw clenched and unclenching, before rolling her eyes and resting her elbow on the console. 

“This is so stupid,” she breathes, but she is _not_ about to go the rest of this trip with Toni calling her a chicken. 

Their hands meet each other’s, and Cheryl watches as Toni stares at their intertwined fingers for a few moments, face unreadable. The younger girl swallows, eyes falling down to their fingers as well, and _wow,_ their skin contrasts beautifully.

Toni shakes her head suddenly, and Cheryl jolts out of wherever she just was. “Okay. So, first one to pin the other’s arm down wins. You can’t lift your elbow, can’t use your other hand-“

“Toni,” Cheryl interrupts. “I know how to arm wrestle.”

Toni nods. “Okay. Well, whoever wins,” she pauses, eyeing Cheryl with a more visible smirk, “gets to carry the other, _bridal style,_ to prove that they were right.” 

Cheryl shakes her head and rolls her eyes again.

“You’re such a child, Toni Topaz.”

Toni shrugs. She puts her other hand over her and Cheryl’s, just to make sure they’re even, before crossing it behind her back and raising a brow so Cheryl does the same, a sigh escaping her mouth. 

“Okay,” Toni murmurs, as Cheryl squints at their hands in concentration. “Ready?”

Cheryl simply nods. A beat passes, and then they’re actually _arm wrestling._

And well, almost immediately, Cheryl feels regret beginning to pool in her chest. She had expected this to be quick and easy — it’s not that she thinks Toni is weak or anything, but, okay, Toni _is_ kind of small, so it’s not her fault for thinking she’d easily win. 

Anyway, instead of her immediately pinning Toni’s arm down on the console like she had expected, their arms stay relatively in the exact same position as they started off in, muscles straining and a look of concentration on both of their faces. 

“What the fuck,” Cheryl hisses, when the back of her hand inches a bit toward the bottom of the console, and as opposed to their forearms being at a fifty-fifty, it’s suddenly at a sixty-forty, with Cheryl on the losing side. “You’re like — two feet tall, why are you so strong?”

Toni clenches her jaw, looking intensely at their hands as if they’ll explode any second. Cheryl briefly wonders why they’re both so goddamn stubborn. 

A few more seconds pass, and Cheryl grits her teeth. She can feel her resolve crumbling as her hand slowly inches toward the losing side, briefly squeezing her eyes shut in her struggle.

Toni releases a quick breath of air, and it gives Cheryl a bit more confidence knowing Toni’s also struggling with this too, so at least this won’t be like, an easy win for her- 

A smirk forms on Toni’s lips as Cheryl’s hand slowly continues inching downward, and Cheryl narrows her eyes, before giving all of her last strength and thrusting upward, like one of those characters in a movie who wins the game last second. 

Toni’s forearm budges a bit, and the pink haired girl widens her eyes in shock, before shaking her head and almost immediately slamming Cheryl’s arm down onto the console. Cheryl groans in affliction, their fingers remaining intertwined for a few more moments before Toni separates them and leans against the seat. 

“Jesus,” the pink haired girl whispers, stopping to take a breather for a few moments, before she’s leaning her head in Cheryl’s direction with a cocky smirk. Cheryl narrows her eyes.

“Hell no. We’re going again,” she decides, sitting back up and resting her elbow down on the console, but Toni shakes her head.

“I dunno, Cher, I’m pretty beat,” she grins, and Cheryl clenches her jaw as she watches Toni open the door. “Now, get out of the car.”

Cheryl crosses her arms and sulkily leans back in her seat as Toni shuts the door and struts her way over to the driver’s side, opening the door for the taller girl. 

“Come on, Cher. It was part of the agreement,” she reminds her. Cheryl looks up at her with a pout.

“I don’t believe I ever agreed to those terms,” she remarks, as Toni begins to tap her foot on the ground. “What’s the point of this?”

“To prove that I’m right.” 

Cheryl rolls her eyes, a huff escaping her as she slowly and stubbornly steps out of the car, arms remaining crossed. They take a few steps away from the car, and Cheryl ignores the stares they get from a couple of people still inside the restaurant, probably wondering what the fuck they’re doing. 

“I still don’t see what you’re trying to—“ 

Cheryl cuts off with a yelp of surprise when Toni suddenly bends down and swipes an arm underneath her knees, her other arm curling around her back. A grunt escapes the pink haired girl as she does so, and suddenly she’s fucking lifting Cheryl off the damn ground. 

And, okay, maybe Cheryl feels a bit of a blush cover her cheeks (something that’s been happening way too often today) when Toni pulls her close and into her body. The older girl looks down at her, and Cheryl crosses her arms once again, that familiar pout returning to her lips. 

“I hate you, you know that?” Cheryl whines, refusing to meet Toni’s gaze. Toni chuckles.

“Now who looks like a child?” she asks. “It’s okay, baby, do you want me to carry you back to the car?” she teases, with that infuriating smirk still on her face. 

Cheryl blinks, and briefly wonders if she should say something like _I doubt you could,_ but then that’d mean Toni would take that as a challenge and probably do it.

“No. Just— just put me down, Antoinette,” she demands, and Toni gracefully sets the redhead down on her feet, before pulling away and putting her hand on her chest. 

“Wow, full naming me? I’m hurt.” 

Cheryl rolls her eyes, and stomps back over to the car. Toni laughs and follows, quickly rushing over to the passenger side before Cheryl can drive away without her. 

“Just as I thought we were becoming friends,” the redhead sighs, shaking her head.

Toni frowns. “Oh come on, don’t be like that, we’re friends now,” she says, voice a mix between a whine and a tease, and well, if Cheryl feels the ends of her lips curl into a slight smile, so what? 

“I just think that the entire thing was a completely and utterly,” she cuts off with a yawn, buckling her seatbelt before putting the car in drive, “pointless thing to do.”

Toni shrugs, smirk still on her face. “If you say so,” she says, and Cheryl doesn’t respond, heading back toward the highway, before, “wait, wait, why are you heading back toward the highway?” 

Cheryl stops and raises a brow at Toni, glancing over at the girl since no one is behind them. “Um, why wouldn’t I be?” she asks. 

Toni tilts her head. “I mean, we’ve already exited, I just thought we’d get a hotel for the night. You’re clearly tired, and there’s probably not gonna be another building for a long time, so.” 

Cheryl takes her lip between her teeth, considering her options. She wants to be back in New York as soon as possible — well, okay, she _did_ want to, but maybe now she doesn’t mind if it takes a little bit longer. And Toni’s right. They don’t need to worry about one of them falling asleep while driving in the middle of nowhere. 

“Come on. We’ll be driving again first thing tomorrow morning,” the girl continues, and Cheryl nods. 

“Okay,” she murmurs as Toni whoops in victory, tapping on her phone and glad to see there’s a hotel right around the corner. “We’ll stay at a hotel.”

-

After everything that’s happened, by the time they’re inside the hotel and settled down a bit (Toni had somehow convinced Cheryl to only bring the necessities and just stick them in Toni’s suitcase), it’s already half past twelve. 

Cheryl lays on top of the blankets, still in her clothes from the day as she waits for Toni to hurry up and finish showering. Her mind is racing a mile a minute, while Toni’s soft voice echos from the bathroom as she sings _I Will_ , a song Cheryl only recognizes because of how long Toni had played The Beatles on the radio earlier. 

.

.

.

Everything just seems so backwards now.

She actually.. _likes_ Toni. Like, appreciates her company. Appreciates _her_ for offering to drive back to New York with Cheryl in the first place. Appreciates her for caring. 

Everything’s just sort of moving so fast. Because, well, they’re _married._ And sure, the plan is for them to get back to New York and get an annulment as quickly as possible, but now she may possibly, _possibly,_ be developing feelings for her, and it just makes everything so complicated. 

Jesus, she walked straight out of the subplot for a sitcom, didn’t she?

Cheryl sighs and allows her eyes to flutter shut. She doesn’t even realize she’s fallen asleep until a little while later, soft fingers are trailing up and down her bicep, an even softer voice attempting to wake her up. 

“Cher,” Toni murmurs, and Cheryl grumbles sleepily. “I didn’t know if you wanted to shower or not, but I left your pajamas out on the chair for you,” she says, voice gentle, fingers still stroking her arm. 

A few beats pass before Cheryl’s eyes flutter open, dark brown eyes meeting lighter brown ones. Toni is standing on the side of the bed, in an old Guns n’ Roses t-shirt and sweatpants, with her wet pink hair framing her face in soft, natural curls. 

Cheryl simply eyes Toni for a few moments — the pink haired girl seems perfectly content with just standing there, dainty fingers still trailing up and down a pale arm, before she nods, wiping away unusually messy red hair out of her face. 

“Yeah,” she murmurs, standing up off the bed and grabbing the clothes. “I’ll shower.” 

  
  
  


When she gets out of the shower about fifteen minutes later, Toni is still awake, the blankets piled around her as she lays in bed and flips through the channels with the lamplight still on beside her. Cheryl quickly dries her hair as best as she can with a towel, before grabbing her small makeup bag and applying her face regimen, because she may be sleepy, but she’s positive she didn’t do it last night, and no way is she skipping two nights in a row. 

When she’s finished, she apprehensively makes her way to the bed and sits down on the opposite side of Toni, playing with the ends of her long sleeves. The pink haired girl is still flipping through the channels, but she looks over at Cheryl with a raised brow.

“What?” she asks playfully. 

Cheryl shrugs. 

“Should one of us.. sleep on the floor or something?”

Toni frowns, like the suggestion is completely ridiculous. “Oh, come on,” she says, scooting over, “the bed is big enough for both of us.”

Cheryl blinks, nodding and plugging her phone into the charger, before crawling into bed. She cuddles up on her pillow as Toni simply watches her with a smile, the older girl’s search for something good to watch apparently forgotten. 

“What?” Cheryl asks with a yawn, eyelids drooped as she stares back at the other girl. Toni shrugs, her smile growing ever so slightly. 

“Nothing,” she murmurs. “I've just never seen you without makeup on. I didn’t know you had some freckles.” 

Cheryl bites her lip, and hopes the room is dark enough that Toni doesn’t see the flaming of her cheeks. “I— um, yeah,” she splutters, curling tighter up against her pillow. “Goodnight, TT.” 

“TT?” Toni asks as she turns off the lamp light, and Cheryl can almost hear the amused smile on her face. 

“It’s a nickname,” she murmurs, eyes fluttering shut. “I don’t have to call you it if you don’t want me to.”

She can hear Toni shifting around on the bed, probably trying to get comfortable. “No, it’s fine. I like it,” she says, a few beats passing. “Goodnight, Cher.” 

Cheryl sleeps with a smile on her face for the first time in a long time. 

*


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i apologize for the longer wait on this chapter. however, it’s longer than all the other ones, but it’s also kind of a mess of a bunch of different emotions, i think. 
> 
> anyway, i hope you guys enjoy!

Toni stays up and flips between a variety of channels for a couple of hours after Cheryl falls asleep, unable to fall into a slumber herself. 

It’s her fault, really. She had gone to sleep around nine back when they were still driving, and then woke up sometime around eleven, so she’s not exactly surprised when she has a bit of problems getting herself to feel even the slightest of tired. 

Plus, a little while after Cheryl had fallen asleep, she had to force herself not to stare at the girl’s relaxed face, with her plump lips slightly parted and her eyes fluttering beneath their lids every so often. She had caught herself doing it once, and then immediately tore her gaze away, muttering something to herself upon realizing how creepy it seemed.

But Cheryl’s just _so_ gorgeous, with her chiseled jawline and her perfect plump lips and the small crease she gets between her brows when she sleeps, but she looks even _more_ beautiful when she’s completely relaxed like this, without any makeup covering her face. 

And it’s not that the girl wears a lot of makeup — it’s just.. without any makeup, it almost makes Cheryl look softer. 

Toni pauses, scrunching her nose and starting to wonder what kind of weird sap she’s turning into, because she’s fairly certain she likes this better than Cheryl’s usual look.

Eventually, around three in the morning, Toni finds herself beginning to feel tired. She turns off the TV, shifts around a bit to get comfortable, before it begins to dawn on her how cold it is in this room. 

Which is weird, because when Cheryl had murmured something about it being cold before she had fallen asleep, Toni had gotten up to turn the heater up a bit for their room. And it worked, for a while, but now, it almost seems as if it’s just gotten colder in the past few hours she’s been awake. 

Focusing her thoughts back on the predicament she’s currently in, Toni squeezes her eyes shut and tries to ignore the decreasing temperature of the room, tightening the blankets on herself and burying her face into the pillow and attempting to give way to sleep. 

And well, not even five minutes later, Toni finds herself curling up into a tight ball in an attempt to warm herself up just a _bit._ She has to fight the urge to shiver, and briefly lectures herself for allowing them to stop at the nearest hotel they could find, because it’s clear their heating system isn’t the best. 

With a sigh, Toni rolls over and reaches for her phone, squinting her eyes at the brightness of it when she turns it on. She clicks on the weather app, laying with her back to Cheryl so she doesn’t risk waking the girl up, and frowning when she sees the cause of her disturbance. 

Of course, _tonight_ would be the night they finally had some cold fronts coming in. Christmas day had been far warmer than usual, followed by New Year’s Eve, and now _of course_ as soon as the holidays are over, that’s when it would start getting cold. 

Toni briefly wonders if everything that’s been happening in the past twenty four hours is just a sign that the new year really just isn’t going to be her year. 

Taking a deep breath, she closes the app, plugs in her phone, and rolls back over, pulling her knees back to her chest and curling in on herself as tight as she can manage in an attempt to just tough it out, despite the fact that the weather app had shown her it would only be getting colder. 

.

.

.

Five minutes later and she’s visibly shivering, teeth chattering. It’s cold _, way_ too cold to sleep, and her mind briefly wanders over to Cheryl and how _she_ could possibly still be asleep, when her question seems to answer itself not even a minute later.

“Toni?” Cheryl murmurs in the dead silence of the room, aside from the occasional clicking noise the heater keeps making. Toni squints open an eye, able to see Cheryl’s silhouette through the darkness. Her voice is deeper than Toni’s ever heard it, low and rough with the clear signs of not being completely awake. 

“Yeah?” Toni asks, a small puff of air escaping her lips. She hears Cheryl shifting around a bit on the bed, but it’s too hard to see exactly what she’s doing in the darkness of the room.

“It’s really cold,” she slurs, still half asleep. Toni nods, despite the fact that Cheryl can’t see her. “Can you turn up the heater?”

Toni sighs, subconsciously inching closer to the other girl. “I already did.” Cheryl’s eyes are half open, burning into her own. “There’s a cold front coming tonight. That’s why it feels like it’s literally freezing in here.” 

Cheryl lets out a sleepy whine, and Toni doesn’t consider herself to be dramatic person, but is quite literally the cutest fucking thing she has ever heard. 

A few beats pass, before Toni feels the bed dip as Cheryl maneuvers herself closer to the older girl. 

“Can you..” she cuts off, shifting a bit closer, and Toni’s breath hitches when she feels Cheryl’s leg brush against her own. “Can we—?”

Toni swallows. Her body briefly tenses, but she pays no mind to it. “Yeah, we— we should,” she eventually breathes, scooting closer to the taller girl as well, able to feel a bit of her body heat against her own. Toni, more desperate for warmth than she’d like to admit (and maybe slightly desperate to feel Cheryl against her), sort of presses her body into Cheryl’s arm from where the younger girl is laying on her stomach. 

Suddenly, Cheryl lifts her arm and tugs Toni’s body a bit closer to her, so the older girl’s front is pressed into her side. She lays an arm just under Toni’s shoulder blades and across her back, and Toni almost moans in relief at the explosion of warmth she feels all over her body.

Not quite sure what to do with her own arms, she wraps an arm around Cheryl’s midsection and leaves the other to lay between them as Cheryl gives her a sleepy, yet satisfied smile. 

“Is this— is this okay?” Toni asks anyway, a couple of moments later. She feels content, considerably more drowsy than before. Cheryl is _so_ soft and warm, and it’s hard to comprehend anything else around her.

“Mhm,” Cheryl hums, just on the brink of sleep.

Toni’s lips curve into the ends of a smile, breaths evening out as she allows darkness to consume her. 

  
  
  


Toni wakes up only a few hours later to the sound of an alarm going off. 

She groans, groggy eyes flashing toward her phone as it buzzes on the nightstand. She doesn’t remember setting an alarm in the first place, but she doesn’t really stop to think about it as she puts it on silent. Instead, she yawns, burying her head further into her pillow, when she suddenly feels movement behind her. 

Toni’s eyes fly open.

It takes a moment to remember, but then: _Right_. She’s laying in bed with Cheryl, who she cuddled with last night, who she drunkenly married _two_ nights ago, who she might also be developing feelings for. 

She blinks — once, twice, before taking a deep breath and turning to look over her shoulder. Cheryl’s already awake, mocha colored eyes slightly hidden between fluttering lids.

(Toni wants to get lost in them.)

Her hair is a mess of fiery red waves, and Toni has to fight the urge to reach out and smooth down the silky strands.

Cheryl raises a brow, peering at her through hazy eyes. It seems as if she’s just woken up, like she’s still somewhat caught between her dreams. 

“Sorry,” Toni eventually croaks, voice rough from lack of use. “Did I wake you?” 

Cheryl shifts, and her leg brushes against Toni’s from its place intertwined with hers. They’re a little bit further than they were last night, but still close, almost sharing the same pillow. 

“No,” she yawns, covering her mouth with the palm of her hand. “I was already awake.” 

Toni suspiciously narrows her eyes, a small smile forming on her face. “You sure? You seem like you’re still asleep.”

Cheryl rolls her eyes and shakes her head, but doesn’t respond. They simply continue to stare at each other, and the moment begins to feel like something more — though Toni can’t quite put a label to it. 

“What time is it?” her redhead counterpart eventually asks, reaching for the blanket and pulling it all the way up to her chin. Toni takes note of the fact that it’s even _colder_ inside the room than it was last night, especially compared to how warm it is underneath the blankets.

Craning her neck so she can see past Cheryl’s shoulder, Toni’s eyes settle on the small alarm clock.

“Half past eight,” she answers, settling back down onto the pillow. Cheryl nods, briefly rolling over to grab her phone, before laying on her back as she turns it on. 

“Hmm.. sounds like the perfect time to get breakfast if I do say so myself, what do you think?” 

“I don’t have any oppositions,” Toni answers, yawning as Cheryl scrolls through her phone for places to eat near them, before her uncharacteristically pale lips curl into a smile of victory.

“I found a small restaurant a couple minutes from here,” she states, turning her phone to show Toni as the pink haired girl scoots a bit closer. “How about we stop there and get some breakfast before we leave?” 

Toni nods with a pleased hum. “And considering the fact that it’s probably going to be nothing but hours of driving with only rest stops and reserves for a while, we should stop for some snacks, too.”

Cheryl narrows her eyes. “Only if your definition of snacks isn’t just a bunch of junk food,” she decides. Toni chuckles, sitting up and stretching her arms with a groan.

“Don’t worry, princess. We’ll get you your celery, too,” she teases, giggling when Cheryl slaps her arm.

  
  
  


Whatever predicament her traitorous heart decided to get itself into last night at the hotel, it hasn’t seemed to go away just yet, much to Cheryl’s disappointment. 

In fact, she’s positive it only fuels itself even further when they exit the restaurant, snow beginning to fall from the sky. Toni’s in the middle of some Christmas story about her and Jughead when they were younger, but Cheryl finds herself barely listening to Toni’s words, too busy staring at her lips as she talks with her hands moving animatedly. 

What would it be like to kiss her? Her lips looked soft enough. Pink, slightly chapped. 

“—but you aren’t listening to a single thing I’m saying, are you?” Toni asks with a soft chuckle, and Cheryl blinks, glancing up and at the shorter girl, who has her hand on the wide open door to the driver’s seat, another hand motioning for Cheryl to get in. 

She’s watching her with a raised brow, a small smile of amusement on her face. Cheryl suddenly feels the familiar heat rushing to her cheeks, and she immediately stutters out a response. 

“I was— uh, I was.. thinking,” she eventually settles on a lame excuse as she sits down in the drivers seat, while Toni rounds the car and makes her way to the passenger seat. They had decided Cheryl would drive for the next few hours since they’d be out in the middle of nowhere, and then Toni would take the wheel once they entered Colorado. 

“About?” Toni questions, a brow quirked as Cheryl struggles to come up with a better excuse. 

“Um.. I..” 

Cheryl’s suddenly saved from immense embarrassment when her phone begins to buzz in her back pocket. 

As of now, she thinks she’s never been so grateful that someone’s decided to call her rather than text, as Toni’s eyes flash toward it and the previous conversation (if you could even call it that) seems to be forgotten. 

However, that gratitude quickly deteriorates once the redhead pulls out her phone, and is greeted with the contact name of her mother. 

Her muscles immediately tense; she had forgotten about what her parents might think of this entire situation after yesterday morning. 

It’s not that she _really_ cares what they think, because she doesn’t. In fact, if it weren’t for Jason, Cheryl’s positive she wouldn’t even speak to them anymore. But of course, her twin brother had decided to remain involved in their business despite the fact that they had already graduated highschool and didn’t live with them anymore, and therefore, kept Cheryl in the loops, too. 

But she isn’t dependent on her parents anymore. They can’t control her, haven’t been able to ever since she graduated — and yet, there’s still that small voice in the back of her head that craves their attention, wishes they would approve of her, act like _real_ parents for once in their goddamn life. 

Her thoughts must show on her face, because while she simply stares at her still buzzing phone, Toni tilts her head, a frown replacing her previous teasing grin. 

“Cheryl?” she asks, and Cheryl looks up, eyes glassy. Her phone stops buzzing in her hand, reads as _missed call from Penelope,_ and a single tear falls down her face. 

“Was that your mom?” Toni’s voice is soft. She even looks concerned. 

Cheryl swallows, glancing back down at the phone in her hand. She nods, refusing to use her words, not quite trusting her voice. Toni shifts around in the seat until she’s facing the younger girl, and Cheryl’s breath hitches when Toni gently lifts her chin to get her to look at her, before using a thumb to wipe away her tears. 

“Are you okay?” she asks, voice even softer, if that’s even possible. Cheryl’s dark brown eyes meet Toni’s lighter ones, and she briefly wonders how the moment so quickly went from light and teasing to _this._

A few moments pass, and Cheryl can feel herself leaning into Toni’s touch, the knuckles that are just barely grazing her cheek, like she’s starved for affection. Toni’s expression softens, and a small, sad smile forms on her face.

Cheryl allows her eyes flutter shut — she stays in that position for at least a good minute, before she takes a deep breath, sitting up a little straighter. She swallows for no particular reason, reaching for her phone and opening the map. 

“Hey,” Toni murmurs, ducking her head. Cheryl glances over at her in hesitation. “Are you okay?” she repeats the question from before, and Cheryl feels herself tense. “Do you want me to drive?”

Cheryl swallows particularly hard. “I’m fine,” she answers, putting the car in drive. 

Toni’s frown deepens. “Cheryl—“ 

“I’m _fine,_ Toni. Stop asking,” Cheryl interrupts, voice thick, and Toni’s throat bobs. Cheryl stares straight in front of them, while Toni’s crosses her hands together in her lap. 

“It’s okay not to be,” the pink haired girl murmurs anyway, voice small. “If you ever want to talk to me about it..” 

Cheryl grits her teeth together. “Can you just _stop?_ ” she snaps. “I don’t _want_ to talk about it, so stop asking me!” she knows she’s getting defensive far too quickly, but she can’t help it, because it’s really all she knows. “What do you think this is?”

A look of hurt flashes across Toni’s face. “I just thought that..” she pauses, a small sigh escaping her mouth. “What do you _want_ it to be?” 

“You can’t—“ a beat passes, and Cheryl struggles to find what to say. “That’s not an answer, Toni,” she eventually settles on.

Toni shrugs, not quite meeting Cheryl’s eyes. “What you want, that’s what we’ll do.” 

Cheryl shakes her head, voice laced with frustration. “What I _want_ is for you to stop interrogating me. Stop acting like we’re actually married or something, because we’re _not.”_

A beat passes, and Toni averts her eyes, taking a small sip of her coffee. 

“Okay,” she answers. A defeated expression covers her face, and Cheryl suddenly feels guilt swell in her chest. “We’ll uh.. we’ll do that, then.” 

The silence feels heavy. Cheryl sighs, risking a glance over at the older girl, whose fingers are curled tight around her coffee cup, staring out the window with a look that Cheryl can’t read on her face. 

She opens her mouth to say something — _anything —_ but she doesn’t know what. 

After a few more moments of incredibly loud silence, Cheryl swallows, before reaching forward and taking a hold of the steering wheel. 

They drive without a word. 

-

It’s a little past the afternoon, the clouds above them a light shade of gray. The snow is falling a bit more rapidly than before.

According to the map, they’re about five minutes away from the _Welcome to Colorado_ welcome center. Cheryl’s only slightly glad, because they’ve been driving for almost four hours now, with only a couple of other buildings in sight. 

It’s been completely silent the _entire_ time. No words being spoken between them, no music — anything. Toni’s been sitting with her head resting against the glass of the window, but every time Cheryl flashes a quick glance in her direction to see if she’s asleep, her eyes are wide open, focused on nothing in particular. 

The tension from earlier clearly lingers in the air, and God, does Cheryl feel _incredibly_ fucking guilty for snapping at Toni earlier, because she _really_ didn’t deserve that. 

But she just — she felt _vulnerable_ , and she _hates_ feeling vulnerable in front of other people.

A few minutes later, Cheryl pulls into the parking lot of the small welcome center. She puts the car in park, but doesn’t make a move to get out. 

A shaky sigh escapes her shoulders. 

Toni unbuckles her seat belt, Cheryl hearing the action more than seeing it. The older girl shifts around in her seat, but doesn’t get out of the car, either. When Cheryl eventually musters up enough courage to look up at her, Toni’s staring down at her lap with a frown. 

“Look—“ Cheryl begins, running a hand through red locks of hair, and Toni slowly lifts her head. “I’m sorry. You were.. you were just trying to help, and I got way too defensive, and it was _really_ uncalled for,” she takes a deep breath. “I just.. I don’t know what I’m doing, or how to handle someone actually caring about me the way that you’re trying to. But I—“ she pauses, gulping— “I kind of like you, and I don’t want us to fight or for things to be awkward for the rest of this trip.” She falls back against the seat. “So, I’m really sorry.”

Toni doesn’t respond. When Cheryl glances over at her, she has her lip between her teeth, obviously thinking. 

It’s quiet. Cheryl squirms in her seat.

“I’m sorry, too,” Toni eventually says, and Cheryl’s jaw drops. What the hell is _she_ sorry for?

A few more moments pass, before Toni opens her mouth once again. “I shouldn’t have kept on talking. I should’ve just stopped when you told me to,” she settles on, finally glancing up and meeting Cheryl’s eyes. 

“You had good intentions,” the redhead argues, but Toni shrugs.

“Good intentions or not, it still wasn’t cool,” she sighs, before a small, sheepish smile forms on her face. “I kind of like you, too, and I would hate for us to go back to being how we were before yesterday.”

Cheryl smiles. “So.. we’re okay, then?” 

“Yeah,” Toni nods. “We’re okay.” 

  
  
  


While they’re there, Toni spends her time exploring the large welcome center and taking as many pictures as she can, including the _Welcome to Colorful Colorado_ sign, the flag, and just some of the scenery surrounding the area. 

She hasn't been to that many states outside of New York in her lifetime — after she moved there, anyway. She can only recall going to Florida a couple of times to visit her grandparents before everything went to shit. 

Point is, if she’s going to drive across the country, she’s going to make the most out of it. 

Cheryl’s been inside for a suspicious amount of time; she had said something about wanting to use the restroom, maybe stretch her legs for a little bit. Toni doesn’t pay too much mind to it, and continues to task herself with taking as many pictures as she can before they leave. 

She comes across a few brochures for some natural trails only a couple of hours away from them, where apparently many people stop to hike, or even just drive around in their cars. 

.

.

.

She takes a brochure and stuffs it into her pocket.

Cheryl comes out of the building right after that, tightening her coat around her to shelter herself from the growing winds. She’s holding a large plastic bag at her side, obviously having bought something, and Toni meets her halfway to their rental car. 

“What’s in the bag?” the pink haired girl asks, letting the camera hang around her neck, the crunch of ice sounding below their feet. Cheryl doesn’t respond, and so she peers over a bit to see inside, only for Cheryl to pull it away from her with a huff.

“It’s a surprise,” is all she answers with, and Toni narrows her eyes. 

“I don’t like surprises,” she says gruffly, but Cheryl shrugs, voice perky. 

“Too bad. You’ll like this one.” 

Toni rolls her eyes, letting Cheryl do whatever she’s trying to do as she herself gets into the drivers seat, scrolling through her photos and smiling when she thinks about the information she saw for some upcoming trails. 

That’d be nice, she muses. Watching the sunset from their car, bundled up in blankets. She’s always wanted to do that with someone. 

She’s still in the process of scrolling through the pictures she took, eyes scanning over a particularly _good_ one, when Cheryl suddenly knocks on the window, causing Toni to nearly jump out of her seat. 

Cheryl giggles from her spot of standing outside of the car, holding something behind her back. Toni purses her lips, opening the door with a raised brow. 

“I don’t think that was very funny,” she murmurs, though her face betrays her with the slight curve of her lips. Cheryl looks slightly nervous, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “What are you hiding?” 

Cheryl bites her lip for a few moments, before a sort of sheepish smile forms on her face. “So, I still feel kind of bad, for earlier,” she starts, averting her gaze, cheeks slightly flushed. “And— I don’t know, I was just in there, and I saw some flowers, so,” she pauses, before she suddenly reveals a small bouquet of flowers, already inside the vase, “and I realized that I don’t know what flowers you like, but I know you like pink, and.. tulips are always nice, right?” 

She hands them to Toni with a toothy grin, and Toni takes ahold of the glass vase between her hands. She brings the flowers up to her nose, taking in the smell, before glancing back up at Cheryl, who’s still nervously holding her hands behind her back, rocking back and forth on her feet.

“Thank you, Cher, that was really thoughtful of you,” Toni smiles. 

“You really like them?” the redhead asks, almost as if she’s surprised, and Toni raises a brow. 

“Of course I do. What, did you think I wouldn’t?” she asks, and Cheryl’s cheeks turn pink. “You’re really adorable, you know that?” 

Toni doesn’t exactly mean to say that last phrase out loud, but she does. 

Cheryl opens her mouth to respond — nothing comes out, and so she closes it, clearly debating on how exactly to respond to that. Toni blinks, before clearing her throat. “So, uh, thanks,” she says, suddenly feeling a bit flustered herself. 

The redhead nods, and Toni steps out of the car so she can set the glass vase in the backseat. She carefully puts it between a few other things, as well as her suitcase, before strapping a seatbelt over it, just to make sure it doesn’t fall over. 

When she sits back down and readjusts the seat so she’s comfortable, Cheryl is in the passenger’s seat, playing with the rings on her fingers. 

“Thank you, Cheryl, seriously,” the older girl repeats, putting the car in drive. “Flowers.. they make me really happy.”

Cheryl looks over at Toni a raised brow, probably suspecting that there’s more Toni wants to say. She doesn’t ask, though, and for that, Toni’s grateful.

Keeping her eyes on the road, Toni tightens her grip on the steering wheel. “My mom used to love flowers,” she begins, voice tight. “And — I know, pretty much everyone likes flowers, but she— she _loved_ them. Every other weekend, she’d take me to a florist shop, and she always let me pick. Then we’d put them right on our kitchen table, for a proud display.” 

She takes a deep breath, not even noticing how close Cheryl’s hand is to hers, until the redhead is laying her hand down on top of Toni’s. Toni smiles, intertwining her fingers with Cheryl’s, and allows the redhead to pull her hand into her lap. 

“What makes you happy?” Toni eventually asks, in an attempt to change the subject. Cheryl looks over at her again, but doesn’t question it. 

“Lots of things,” she eventually answers, glancing up and at the long road in front of them. “Painting, a good book, the beach, sunsets,” she pauses, turning to look back over at Toni. “You’ve been making me a little happy, I think.” 

Toni feels a familiar warmth begin to spread through her chest, flashing a quick glance at the redhead. She wants — _wants —_ to kiss Cheryl, wants to remember it this time, but she _doesn’t_ want to ruin the fragile thing they’re starting to build, that nearly shattered just a few hours ago. 

So instead, she goes, “well, I guess we’re not all that different, then.” 

Cheryl tilts her head, and Toni continues. “I really like sunsets, too.” 

“They’re very therapeutic,” Cheryl murmurs, staring out of the window with a look of concentration. “Like everything just seems to harmonize. At the end of the day, we’re all just people, trying to find our place in the world.”

Toni hums her agreement. She thinks back to the nature trails she was reading about, and the brochure that’s still in her pocket. 

“I saw some information about some natural trails, back at the welcome center,” she reveals to the younger girl. “Do you think we could detour just a little bit to stop at one of them? To watch the sunset? Apparently Colorado has plenty.” 

Cheryl smiles. “Of course we can, TT. That sounds lovely.” 

Toni squeezes Cheryl’s hand. 

-

They pull up to one of those hills that has a large parking lot at the top a couple of hours later. There’s only one other car on the other side, but it’s empty.

Cheryl had managed to find a popular trail on the map after looking for a while. It wasn’t too far from the highway they were trying to stay on, only about a ten minute detour. 

Toni parks the car, her lips curling into a smile as the sun begins to set in the distance. Perfect timing. 

“Do you wanna sit in here?” she asks Cheryl, turning to face the redhead, who hadn’t let go of her hand (aside from the few times Toni had to make a sharp turn) for the entire time. “Or, I have a few blankets with me we could use, and we could sit on the roof.” 

Cheryl smiles. “The roof sounds nice.” 

  
  
  


Toni ends up grabbing both of her large blankets she insisted on bringing, standing on the hood of the car and laying one out over the roof, before putting the other one on top so they can use it to cover themselves, due to how cold it is. She sits down on top, before turning to face Cheryl, who’s suddenly looking a bit weary at the thought of having to climb up there. 

“Come on, Cher,” the pink haired girl smiles, offering her hand down to the younger girl. “Are you scared?”

Cheryl crosses her arms as she takes a few steps closer to the car. “Just thinking about the possibility of you pushing me off of the roof once I _do_ get up there,” she says, and Toni chuckles. 

“Come on, it’s safe, I promise,” she reassures her, a stupid grin on her face. “I’ll protect you.” 

Cheryl rolls her eyes and shakes her head with a smile, accepting Toni’s outstretched hand and stepping on the slight trunk of the car. She makes it up with ease, and sits down on the blanket next to Toni as the older girl scoots over to make room for her, before accepting the offered blanket. 

They sit down close, thighs and arms brushing, and Cheryl takes a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders. 

The hill they’re on curves down in front of them, leading to a wide variety of trees and rivers, and even a small waterfall in the distance. There’s a few mountains in front of them, but none of them block their clear view of the setting sun. 

Cheryl tries to savor the moment, photograph it within her mind to paint for later. 

Eventually, Toni reaches for her hand, and Cheryl smiles and doesn’t even consider denying her. She releases a small sigh, and when Toni leans her head on her shoulder, she leans her cheek on top of Toni’s head. 

Minutes pass in complete silence, and yet, they both have so much to say. 

“You’ve wanted to ask me questions about my parents all day,” Cheryl murmurs after the sun’s halfway gone, the skies turning to dark blues and purples. “Do you still.. want to?” 

Toni immediately widens her eyes. She lifts her head from the space it had previously been in, tucked in between Cheryl’s shoulder and head, looking up at the younger girl. “Cheryl, you don’t— you don’t have to tell me _anything._ It’s none of my business.”

Cheryl averts her eyes, turning to look in front of them. Toni continues when she doesn’t respond. 

“If you don’t want to, or if you’re not ready, that’s okay. I’m not going to be upset.” 

“What if I want to?” Cheryl asks, voice wavering. 

The sun is almost completely gone in front of them, replacing the sky with a variety of purples and blacks. The stars are slightly visible. 

Toni brings the hand not intertwined with Cheryl’s up to the redhead’s face, urging her to turn back toward her, before offering her what she hopes is a reassuring smile. 

“Then I’ll listen, and offer you as much as I can.” 

Cheryl nods, taking a trembling lip between her teeth. She exhales shakily, the breath of air visible due to the temperature.

“My parents.. they’re not.. they’re not good people, as I’m sure you already know,” Cheryl starts, and Toni squeezes Cheryl’s hand. _Of course_ she knows that. If they’re anything like the stories that went around the southside when she was just a kid, they’re _horrible_. 

“They always made it clear that Jason was the superior one out of the two of us for as long as I can remember. Something about him being planned, and me being the accident,” Cheryl glances up at the sky, and Toni’s heart shatters when she sees the tears in the redhead’s eyes. 

“I, of course, always wanted them to _notice_ me, to stop treating me like I was just the extra that they didn’t sign up for. I did everything I could to get them to see me as more than just the weak little girl they always did, and typically, that meant acting like a bitch in both junior high and high school, showing people that I wasn’t to be fucked around with.” She pauses, glancing over at Toni, a couple of tears rolling down her cheeks. “Specifically the Southsiders, because there was nothing more that my mother hated than them.” 

Cheryl half expects Toni to get mad, to tell her that that’s no excuse for _anything_ she did in high school, but instead, the older girl’s light brown eyes remain soft and nonjudgmental, urging her to continue. 

“I think it started to work, for a while. They stopped treating me like I wasn’t completely worthless, started acting like I was an equal to Jason,” Cheryl pauses, glancing down at her lap, a few more tears falling down her face, “and then my mother caught me making out with a girl.” 

Toni’s sure she knows what’s coming. She’s not religious, and yet, she still prays to every god that she knows that she’s wrong. 

“If things were bad before, they were even worse after that. My mother had never touched me, but it was like after that, she didn’t even _care_ if someone found out, if she got exposed for abuse. I think deep down, she knew that I wouldn’t ever say anything about it to anyone, because I was—“ her voice cracks, “I was _ashamed,_ and I didn’t know who to go to, or who to tell. Jason was the only one I was close to at the time, but he—“ her voice cracks— “I didn’t want to do that to him.” 

Toni doesn’t even realize that there are tears falling down her face until she feels them rolling down her arm. She ignores it.

“How old were you?” she asks, already dreading the answer. 

Cheryl sighs. “Sixteen, when it started. I think it was sometime during junior year.”

Tono’s barely able to stop a whimper from escaping her mouth. 

During their junior year, sure, they didn’t exactly like each other, but they still saw each other often, hanging around the same group of people. And that means that Toni could’ve done something, but she never noticed. 

She squeezes her eyes shut, tears falling rapidly down her cheeks, until she feels the pads of soft fingers tickling her jawline. 

When she opens her eyes, Cheryl’s already staring at her, brown eyes filled with tears. 

It’s almost as if she can read Toni’s mind. 

“It wasn’t your fault,” she breathes, hand dropping from Toni’s jaw. Toni opens her mouth to counter Cheryl’s statement, but the redhead continues before she can. “I did a good job at hiding it. I didn’t _want_ anyone to know. Not even Jason knew, till after we were out of high school. And even now, he doesn’t know the full extent of it. So please, don’t let yourself think that.” 

Toni sighs, shaking her head. She has no idea what to say. 

“Just— can I hug you?” she asks, heart shattering all over again when tears begin falling down Cheryl’s face more rapidly, the redhead barely even giving a nod before she’s wrapping her arms around Toni in the same way Toni wraps her arms around her, burying her face into the top of fiery red locks. 

Toni just hopes she can convey everything she wants to say through the embrace.

  
  


-

  
  


They’ve been laying in bed for hours. 

Cheryl doesn’t remember what time they had gotten here, or much of what happened after they left the trail, or Toni ever telling her they would stop at another hotel for the night, for that matter. She doesn’t think Toni even said anything, honestly, just drove them to one and got a few of Cheryl’s clothes from her bag, and then checked them in. 

She feels tired from everything that’s happened today, and yet, she feels too wired to sleep. Besides, she’s still in her jeans and long sleeved shirt anyway, so that might have a little bit to do with it. 

The small lamp light is on beside them, and truthfully, the sound of the heater constantly clicking in an attempt to keep the room warm is driving Cheryl a tad insane, but she finds that she doesn’t mind it. 

If it weren’t for the hand rubbing up and down her back over her clothing, Cheryl would be positive that Toni had fallen asleep. They haven’t spoken since they first got here, with Cheryl sort of tucking herself into the smaller girl’s body and accepting the comfort she had to offer. 

“Toni?” Cheryl finds herself eventually asking, wincing at the sound of her scratchy voice. She feels Toni’s arms tighten around her almost immediately, a small bout of warm air against the crown of her head. 

“Yeah?” Toni breathes, moving the hand on Cheryl’s back up until she’s able to play with the ends of her hair. 

“What happened to your parents?” she whispers. Toni feels her muscles involuntary tense, eyes drilling into the ceiling.

Cheryl feels the change as well, as she leans up and glances down at Toni from where her head had previously been resting on her chest. 

“I’m sorry,” she sighs, averting her eyes. “That wasn’t fair of me to ask—“

“No,” Toni cuts her off, a small smile forming on her face. “It’s okay. I can talk about them now without getting upset,” she pauses, pursing her lips, and pulling Cheryl back down to her chest. 

A beat passes.

“My uh.. my mom died when I was ten.” 

Cheryl’s eyes flutter shut, chest tightening. She knew this was coming, especially when Toni talked about her in past tense in the car, but she had still wished it wouldn’t. Toni didn’t — _doesn’t —_ deserve that. “Car accident. It was raining really bad that night. Her car spun out of control.” 

Cheryl squeezes Toni’s middle, because she doesn’t know what else to do, and hopes it gives Toni the support she needs to continue. 

“I was always closer to her than I was to my dad,” she sighs. “But he was still a good dad, you know? But.. after the accident, he was just.. _heartbroken._ Started drinking a lot, disappearing often. It was.. hard, to say the least.” 

She takes a deep breath, reaching for Cheryl’s hand, and Cheryl couldn’t even dream of denying her. “He just.. left. Just disappeared one day when I was twelve, and didn’t come back,” she suddenly frowns. “I was thrown around in the foster system for a while, but eventually, Ruby stepped up and took me in.”

Cheryl furrows her brows together. “Ruby?” she asks softly, mindlessly twirling a pink curl around her finger. 

Toni nods. “Yeah. Ruby is Sweet Pea’s mom. She was good friends with my mom, and since Sweet Pea’s an only child, she figured she could afford taking me under her wing,” she explains. “I had to move to Riverdale because of it, but at the time, there was no other option.”

Cheryl wonders what it would’ve been like to know Toni at that time. She met Toni when they were fourteen, right at the beginning of high school, but she was going through her own issues at that time anyway. 

“Where did you live before?” Cheryl asks, moving her fingers up and down Toni’s side. 

The ends of Toni’s lips curl up into a smile. “Further south,” she reveals, and Cheryl chuckles. 

“So you were a farm girl?” she teases. Toni playfully rolls her eyes, despite the fact that Cheryl can’t see her. 

A few beats pass in utter silence, and Cheryl takes her lip between her teeth, before frowning. 

“I’m sorry that you had to go through all of that, TT,” she murmurs, squeezing Toni’s middle once again, lifting her head up to look down at the older girl. “I wish you hadn’t.”

Toni shrugs, playing with the baby hairs on the back of Cheryl’s neck, and the moment begins to feel like something soft. “It wasn’t your fault,” she sighs. “It’s been ten years since everything happened, and I’ve.. moved on. I can talk about it without breaking down, and I can look at old pictures, and tell people about the memories without crying. It’ll— it’ll always hurt, but it gets better.” 

Cheryl rubs her itchy eyes. “Well, you’re definitely better than me, because I didn’t even lose anyone and I still acted like a bitch in highschool. I even _still_ do sometimes.” 

Toni frowns, dainty fingers wrapping around Cheryl’s wrist and gently pulling them away from her face. 

“Hey,” she starts, a bit more stern. “Don’t do that, Cheryl. Don’t compare our situations, or how we coped. That’s not fair.” 

Cheryl shrugs, before meeting Toni’s eyes. 

“You still have to be one of the strongest people I know, Toni. The fact that you’re still here, as compassionate and kind as you are, even after that, says _a lot._ And I.. really admire you for that.” 

Toni smiles. 

“You’re compassionate too, Cheryl,” she whispers. “In these past two days, you’ve been showing me that underneath the tough exterior you put up,” she pokes Cheryl’s side, smile widening when Cheryl lets out a giggle, “you’re actually just a big softie.“ 

Cheryl raises a brow. “If anyone here’s a softie, it’s you.” 

Light brown eyes narrow at darker ones. “Um, I was in a gang. Matter of fact, I still am. You’re definitely the softer one out of the both of us.”

Cheryl rolls her eyes with an amused grin. “If you say so,” she yawns, before moving to get up. Toni raises a brow at her as she pulls herself out of the shorter girl’s embrace, making her way to the suitcase and pulling out her pajamas, before throwing some sleep clothes at Toni.

After getting changed, they turn off the lamp and crawl back into bed, Toni opening her arms and allowing Cheryl to copy the position she was previously in: head on her chest, an arm around her midsection, legs close together. 

Cheryl has to remind herself to keep breathing a multitude of times as she wiggles around until she’s comfortable in Toni’s embrace, smiling when Toni wraps an arm around her, hand stroking her hair. 

“Thank you,” Cheryl murmurs after a short while, drowsy in Toni’s hold, eyes fluttering shut in relaxation when the pressure on her head increases. Toni furrows her brows, shutting her eyes as well, feeling incredibly tired after the long day they’ve had. 

“For what?” she whispers, hoping Cheryl can’t hear how loud her heart is beating through her chest, despite how tired she feels.

“For listening,” Cheryl slurs, clearly on the verge of falling asleep. “You didn’t have to.” 

“Of course I did,” she smiles ever so slightly. “I care about you, Cheryl.” 

Cheryl’s voice is so soft, Toni has to strain to hear it. “I care about you too,” she whispers. “I’ll make it up to you, someday.” 

She’s asleep before Toni can even respond, let alone think about the statement. 

.

.

.

Toni follows soon after. 

  
  
  


They don’t talk much about everything that happened the next morning, which Cheryl is _so_ grateful for.

She doesn’t feel like it’s been forgotten about, because it obviously hasn’t — she just feels like they can move on, like it won’t be constantly lingering in the background, weighing them down. 

“Ready to get out of here?” Toni asks as they sit down in the car.

Cheryl feels lighter than ever. 

“Most definitely.”

Toni reaches for her hand this time, squeezing it. 

“I’m proud of you,” she says, gently. 

Cheryl smiles. “I know.” 

Something has _definitely_ changed between them. 

  
  
  


“Oh fuck,” Toni says, four hundred miles later, just as they pass the _Welcome to Nebraska_ sign. “I forgot my toothbrush.”

*


End file.
